Witness Protection
by AJzkitten69
Summary: Futurefic.  After her graduation from Hearst, Veronica testified against Liam Fitzpatrick and was placed in Witness Protection.  So what happens when Logan shows up at her door, risking both of their lives?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it. Just having fun.

**Author's Note:** Hey, look, it's my very first Veronica Mars fanfic! I've been writing other stuff for years, but I've never posted anything. But, since I just watched the entire series, for the first time, in a week, I figured I could finally get over my shyness and post something. After all, if I could give up sleeping and eating in favor of sitting in front of my computer and watching Veronica Mars, I could post some fanfic. If you like it, let me know. If you think it needs some improvement, I'd love to hear that too. Anyway, enjoy!

Witness Protection

Chapter One

Veronica Mars smiled at the woman with the small child as they maneuvered their shopping carts around each other. It was also Veronica Mars that chose Chunky brand over Hearty for her soup, then waited in line, loaded her items onto the conveyor belt, and handed over her debit card. It was Veronica Mars who was asked for her I.D., and it was a picture of Veronica Mars that stared out of her driver's license.

"Thank you, Miss Belmont. Have a good evening."

Yet it was Emily Belmont that walked out of the supermarket with her groceries.

Veronica never thought the little things would be so hard. She'd known it would nearly kill her to give up her father, Wallace, and the rest of her life. Of course, being nearly killed was still a lot better than being actually killed, which was exactly what the Fitzpatricks were looking to do to her after her testimony put Liam in prison for life.

She'd been snooping, of course. She hadn't meant to find herself anywhere near the Fitzpatricks or anyone associated with them, of course. One round with a tattoo gun near her face had been more than enough for her. But she was in the wrong part of town, doing surveillance on a completely different matter, when Liam Fitzpatrick pushed Kyle Pascolla to his knees and held a gun to his head. Veronica just had time to turn the camera in the right direction and take a few shots before Kyle's brain was splattered all over the street.

She never would have been able to live with herself if she hadn't turned over her pictures and testified. Still, she hadn't thought about how hard it would be to give up her name.

But this had been her life for the past year and a half. Every once in a while, she'd pick up a disposable, untraceable cell phone and call her dad or Wallace, just to let them know she was still okay. However, the conversations had to be kept short, and she couldn't really tell them anything much. To let them know anything about her life would be to endanger them. They didn't even know what name she was living under.

Sighing, she stopped the car outside her apartment building. She did a double take when she saw the yellow X-terra, but then shook it off, like she did with most Logan-related thoughts.

Their last fight had been right before her testimony. He'd wanted her to let him help her disappear, the way Duncan disappeared, so she wouldn't have to be in Witness Protection. She'd turned down his offer, and he was considerably less than thrilled. The federal government had whisked her away before she'd had a chance to say goodbye.

They hadn't been together at the time, but, if she read him right, they'd been headed back in that direction. It had taken her years to get over his one night with Madison, but she'd finally reached a place where she didn't see Madison's face every time she looked at Logan.

She never wondered whether or not she was still in love with him. She _knew_ she was. She also knew that falling in love with him was probably the stupidest thing she'd ever done. But it hardly mattered now. Now she was Emily Belmont, freelance photographer, who specialized in fashion.

To say she wasn't happy would be an understatement. She was a licensed private detective with a degree in criminology. And she was wasting her time taking pictures of emaciated women with pretty clothes. But this was the price she had to pay to keep her family and friends safe.

With another sigh, she shifted her groceries from one arm to the other as she trudged up the stairs to her apartment.

When she reached her landing, she froze. A moment later, she dropped every bag in her arms and staggered a few steps closer.

Logan Echolls was asleep in front of her door.

And he _reeked_ of alcohol.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Hey, remember how I didn't own them last chapter? Well, the funniest thing...I still don't.

**Author's Note:** Wow, you guys are so amazing! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews. It has taught me that reviews really and truly are the cure for writer's block. Let me know what you think this time around!

Witness Protection

Chapter Two

"Logan," Veronica said quietly, crouching down to shake him awake. "Logan, wake up. You can't be here."

He groaned and turned toward her, his eyes still closed. Veronica gasped. He'd been badly beaten. Not even the PCHers had worked him over to this extent.

"Logan," she whispered, even quieter, her eyes brimming with tears. She was afraid to touch him for fear of aggravating one of his many injuries. "Please, wake up." When all she got was another groan, she said, "That's it. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No!" Logan said, his voice pained, but strong. Then, softer, "No, Ronnie. No hospitals."

Some of her tears spilled out of her eyes at his use of her nickname. She should have corrected him, told him her new name was Emily Belmont, and that he should get used to using it until he was kicked out of her life again. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Logan, you need a doctor. If your face looks that bad, I can only imagine what they did to the rest of you."

"So am I not," he coughed, "pretty anymore?" When his comment failed to elicit a laugh, he went on to say, "I've made it two days without a doctor. Don't need one now."

"Yes, you do. Come on, I'll help you up."

"No!" he said again. "If I go to the hospital, they'll find me. They'll find _you."_

Veronica froze. "The...the Fitzpatricks did this to you?"

Logan nodded slowly, as if every movement pained him. Veronica glanced around quickly, then said, "We need to get inside. Right now."

With her help, Logan managed to get up and through her door. She steered him to the couch and sat him down, then went to retrieve her groceries. After she put away the perishables, more as a way of calming herself than because she actually cared about the possibility of spoiled food, she grabbed her first aid kit and went to tend to her ex.

He was laying on the couch when she got back to him. _Okay, now for the awkward portion of this evening._ "Logan, we have to get your shirt off so I can see how much damage was done." She wasn't too worried about his legs. If there'd been a lot wrong there, he never would have been able to negotiate the stairs.

"You're saying my name a lot," Logan observed as he sat up slowly.

"Yeah, well," Veronica said, climbing up on the couch behind him to help get his jacket off, "maybe I'm just having a little trouble believing you're here. Saying your name makes it more real. Speaking of, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't say goodbye," Logan answered with a pained noise as he extracted one, then the other arm from his jacket.

"They didn't give me time," she replied quietly. "Okay, shirt off." Luckily, Logan was wearing a buttoned shirt, so he wouldn't have to lift his arms. She went around the front of him and started unbuttoning.

"Any other circumstances, I'd find this erotic," Logan chuckled, then winced. "You must think I'm really pathetic. Here I am, with more money than god, a college degree, and every reason to just...move on. But I still end up passed out at your door."

"Trust me, Logan. The farthest thing from my mind is the idea of you being pathetic. I'm more into wondering how the hell you found me."

"I have," he repeated slowly, "more money...than god. I finally got everything dear old dad left me when I graduated."

Veronica couldn't help her sharp intake of breath when she finally got his shirt off. His entire upper body was a mass of bruises. She only had one icepack, but she quickly retrieved it and laid it on a particularly nasty-looking bruise on his right side. He winced, but moved his hand to hold it in place.

"You think anything's broken?" Veronica asked.

"Don't think so. Didn't hear anything snap. Just bruised. And the cuts." Logan chose this moment to lay back down on the couch. "I'll be fine. In a few days."

Veronica shook her head. "At least let me get some antiseptic on those cuts."

"Not if it involves me sitting up again," Logan replied, his stubborn streak magnified by the alcohol in his system. He wasn't drunk...but he wasn't exactly sober either.

She rolled her eyes, grabbed the tube of Neosporin, and lifted his head before sitting on the couch and laying his head in her lap. His only cuts were on his face. She guessed the guy, or guys, were wearing rings when they punched him, but they hadn't been sharp enough to penetrate his clothes. His face, however, had been vulnerable.

As she dabbed Neosporin on his cuts, his eyes drifted closed in either relief or relaxation, she didn't know. She continued their previous conversation. "So, you bribed someone to find me?"

"I bribed _nine_ someones to find you. And then hired four P.I.s." Logan opened his eyes and gazed into Veronica's. "You're a difficult person to find, Veronica Mars."

Her name falling from his lips was what finally undid her. She started crying. "I'm sorry, Logan. I wanted to call you every day, but I didn't want to endanger you. They're watching you more than Wallace, and my dad at least knows which precautions to take. But I just wanted to protect you from...well, this."

Logan lifted a hand and put it to her cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "Don't you get it, Veronica? It's _my_ job to protect _you."_

She shook her head. "This is my fault, Logan. This happened because of me."

He smiled. "Risks of an epic love, Ronnie. Years, ruined lives, bloodshed. Now if only I had to chase you to another continent, we'd be officially epic."

_Why can't I stop crying?_ "So now you remember that conversation?"

"Bits and pieces of that night eventually started to come clear. That was one of them."

"So..." Veronica paused and bit her lip. "You still want me?"

"I've wanted you every second since our first kiss. Pathetic, huh?"

She shook her head again, tears still dripping from her eyelashes. "Only because we can't. I'm in Witness Protection for a reason, Logan. They...the Fitzpatricks...find you here, and we're both dead. We're safer apart. It kills me, but...remember what you said about a survivable amount of pain now, instead of an unbearable pain later? I think this is like that. Except instead of unbearable pain, it would actually be death."

"No. It was stupid. _I_ was stupid," Logan said, shaking his head in a way that told Veronica that he knew exactly what he'd said, and when and why he'd said it. "I'll go into Witness Protection with you. Or I could still just take you away from all this. We could disappear. Together."

Veronica took a deep, shuddering breath as her hand brushed his hair back from his forehead, where she placed a kiss. "We'll talk about this in the morning, when you're sober. Tonight, we need to get you up, because you're taking the bed. This couch is not gonna help your bruises any. Come on," she said, moving her leg a little to get him to lift his head.

With a noise of utmost dissatisfaction, Logan sat up, and with her help, walked into her bedroom. He crawled into her bed like there was no place more natural for him to be, and when Veronica started to walk out, he protested.

"Don't leave!" he said, his voice panicked. "Don't leave me again, Ronnie, please don't leave me again. Please, I just want to be near you."

Veronica had never had much willpower when it came to Logan begging for anything, least of all her presence. She sighed, then changed into her pajamas. She didn't bother leaving the room to do so. She had nothing Logan hadn't seen. In the morning, she would get the full story on his encounter with the Fitzpatricks, and maybe an update on her friends. Then, as soon as he was healed enough to travel again, she'd send him on his way, as much as it would hurt to do so.

But tonight, she couldn't leave him alone, not with that desperate, panicked note in his voice. She slipped under the sheets and Logan, despite the pain it probably caused him, moved closer to her and threw an arm over her. After a moment, she snuggled closer to him, as close as she could be without her body being completely flush with his.

And for the first time in months, Veronica Mars closed her eyes and slept peacefully.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own it

**Author's Note:** Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews! I love you guys!

Witness Protection

Chapter Three

When sunlight filtered through her window and woke Veronica, she felt Logan's arm still draped over her and, in the blissful moments between being asleep and being fully alert, she believed she was waking from a nightmare. A nightmare in which she had witnessed a murder and been shoved into Witness Protection, where she could never see her family and friends, and where she hadn't spoken to Logan for over a year. But it was alright, because it was, after all, just a nightmare.

Then she turned over to look at him and saw the bruises. She was jolted fully awake instantly. Her body went tense so quickly that Logan woke up too.

"Hey," he said quietly, bringing a hand up to brush some hair out of her face.

"You should shower," Veronica said too quickly, extracting herself from his arms before she forgot that she shouldn't be there. "Well, painkillers, then shower. I'll be right back."

She practically ran from the room to go get some Advil. She wasn't sure if he'd need it more for the protests of his bruised body, or for the pounding that had to be in his head. Still, she was thankful for the excuse to get out of his presence, if only for a minute. He was intoxicating, and she was afraid that if she was around him for too long, she'd end up doing something that would make it even harder for him to leave.

She returned with a bottle of Advil and a large glass of water, which she placed on the nightstand next to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got beat up by the Irish mafia," Logan responded bluntly, downing three of the pills in one gulp. "Little bit of a headache too, but definitely feeling better than yesterday. Guess they were right when they said that sleep actually helps the healing process."

"Little bit of a headache?" Veronica asked skeptically, her arms crossed in front of her. "Either you've got the liver of the gods, or you didn't have as much as I thought you did. But then why did you...do you...smell like a bar in Tijuana?" She was ignoring the comment about healing quickly. Outwardly, anyway. Inside, the logical part of her was saying that it was excellent, that he could be healed and on his way before anyone noticed he was missing. The less-than-logical part was urging her to push him down the stairs so he'd be stuck with her for a few more days.

"Spilled some tequila on my pants. And you know how cheap tequila reeks for days. Though I did have a lot before I passed out," he explained. "So you said something about a shower?"

"Yeah. Bathroom is," she pointed, "right there. Towels are in there too. Do you have any spare clothes?"

He nodded. "I packed a bag before I left. It's in the car. I'll go get it." He dug the keys out of his pocket.

"No, you'll get in the shower. I'll get your clothes," Veronica said, holding her hand out for his keys, amazed that he'd slept on them. "That was your X-terra, wasn't it? I mean, I know you drove the Range Rover the last few years, but a car that hideous showing up at the same time as you can't just be a coincidence."

"Hey, I love that car!" Logan said in his defense as he handed his keys over. "But yes, it's mine. The Rover was in the shop, so I was driving that. There's a black bag in the backseat. It has clothes."

"Okay, spare toothbrushes in the left drawer under the sink. I'll leave the bag outside the door and start something for breakfast. And you _will_ explain everything to me. Got it?" _That's right, Veronica. Business-like. Keep it that way. Don't slip up._

"Got it," Logan said, getting up and walking into the bathroom.

She shook her head, threw a robe on over her pajamas, and went to get his bag.

When Logan ambled out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, Veronica was fully dressed and not even remotely ready to face the day ahead of her. Of course, looking at her, no one else would have known that, except maybe for the guy who parked himself in one of the chairs at her table. But if he knew that anything about her was off, he made no comment.

"Alright, I hope you're in the mood for the typical all-American bacon, eggs, and pancakes," Veronica said as she placed a plate in front of him before placing another in front of her chair and sitting down. "And Logan," she added, doing her best Ricky Ricardo, "you got some explaining to do."

Logan chuckled before shoving a forkful of eggs in his mouth. "Ask me anything. I'll answer as best as I can. Just keep in mind the last couple of days are a little...blurry."

She nodded. "Okay, let's start with the whole bribery thing. How did that work?"

"Found a guy, offered him money to tell me where you were. He said he didn't know, but he would gladly give me the name of someone who might...for the right price. Same thing happened with the guy he gave me, and then again and again, until one guy took his badge _very_ seriously. He paid me a visit and informed me that if I continued to bribe federal employees for the location of a person under their protection, I would be persecuted to the full extent of the law." Logan smiled. "Though he was nice enough to add that it would be a lot harder to find you from prison. That's when I hired the private detectives. First one, then, after a month of nothing from him, another. And another. It was the last one that found you."

"And how long have you known where to find me?"

"Since yesterday morning. I got the call from the guy, packed a bag, and drove in the opposite direction, in case I was being watched. Then turned this way and zigzagged across the state a few times before finally getting here and drinking myself silly." He shook his head, smiled, and shoved a piece of bacon in his mouth. After swallowing, he added, "It started out as liquid courage, then moved into pain relief territory. Then I fell asleep, but not long enough to quite sober up."

It was time for Veronica to ask the question she dreaded most. As a way of stalling, she ate a few bites of her pancakes before saying, "Tell me what happened with the Fitzpatricks."

Logan put his fork down and fidgeted nervously. "I don't know how, but they got word that I was looking for you. I guess they wanted to get any information I had out of me. They grabbed me when I was leaving the mall and dragged me to a warehouse, where a few guys with biceps the size of my head took turns seeing if their fists would actually leave any kind of indents on my body. While they were doing that, Boyd kept asking me where you were. I'm glad the P.I. didn't reach me until the morning. Made it so I really and truly didn't know anything. It could have gone on a lot longer before they believed me, otherwise. They tossed me out at around four in the morning. Five hours later, I got the call from the P.I."

"Boyd's out of prison?" Veronica asked.

"Yes, and what a sunny disposition it's given him," Logan replied, the sarcastic tone of his voice making her smile. "I mean, Jesus, you thought he was a fun guy before, you should really see him now."

She offered him a feeble smile and placed her hand over his. "I'm glad you're okay, Logan. Honestly, it's a miracle you're not more..." She stopped mid-sentence, cold dread settling in the pit of her stomach. Something was off. "A miracle. No, not right. We know those guys. They would have pounded you into a squishy substance with or without reason if they didn't need you alive. Let me see your phone," she said, holding her hand out.

Logan was confused, but after all his time spent with Veronica, he knew it was better to just follow an instruction as simple as that than to question it. He handed his phone over. She quickly disassembled it, then sighed in relief before putting it back together.

"No bug. At least they don't have everything the P.I. told you." She punched her father's number into Logan's phone and held it to her ear. While the phone rang, she told Logan, "Get your stuff together as quickly as you can. If you've got extra room in that bag, throw some of my clothes in there too. I'll explain in a couple minutes."

As Logan nodded and headed for her bedroom, her father's voice came over the line. "For the hundredth time, Logan, I don't know where she is."

"Hi, daddy," Veronica said quietly.

"Oh, hi, sweetie! Sorry, I thought you were...oh god, he's found you, hasn't he?"

She nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Yeah. He got snatched by the Fitzpatricks a couple nights ago, beaten up, then got my info the next morning from one of his P.I.s. His phone's not bugged, but...I know this sounds terrible, but he wasn't beaten badly enough. I think they're using him to get to me. What do I do? Should we go our separate ways when I go on the run again? Call Witness Protection, see if they can get here before the Fitzpatricks?"

"His car probably has a tracer on it. Maybe a listening device or two as well. Problem is, you don't have time to find it. Get your bare essentials, get in your car, and get out, as fast as you can. Take Logan with you. If his phone wasn't bugged, then they can't know the name you're using, so you should get a good chunk of his money transferred to your accounts, and enough cash to last you at least a week before you have to make a withdrawl. You don't know how long you'll be on the run, and they'll be watching Logan's accounts. Don't go to a bank until you're at least a hundred miles away from wherever you are now, and once that's done, drive in a different direction." Keith paused to take a breath before continuing on. "Stay on the move. Of course, call Witness Protection, but don't depend on their help too much. Obey traffic laws. Use cash whenever you can, in case they do get wind of your new identity. Try to avoid a pattern in what kind of hotels you stay at. No five-star honeymoon suites every night, you understand?"

"Yes, I understand," she replied, already on her way into her room to gather the few things she absolutely couldn't leave behind.

"Absolutely no one touches Logan's phone except you and him. Never tell me where you are. And call me tonight to let me know you got out safe, okay?"

"Yes, daddy. Thank you. I love you," Veronica said, trying not to cry. Her life had just been shattered into a million pieces. Again. She hadn't been nearly as attached to this life as her last one, but it still wasn't a sensation she was fond of.

"I love you too, sweetie. Be careful."

"Always. Bye," she said, before hanging up and looking across the room at Logan. Before he could ask, she said, "We think your car is being traced. We need to leave as soon as we can. I'll tell you the rest of the stuff Dad told me when we're on our way."

"So...I led them to you?" Logan asked, the guilt in his voice almost too much to bear.

"You couldn't have known," Veronica replied. "Can you grab that lock-box at the top of the closet?"

He quietly did as she asked, then quickly grabbed up everything he figured she might need from the bathroom while she threw a few articles of clothing haphazardly into a suitcase. After that, she grabbed anything that could connect her to the apartment. Within ten minutes, Veronica was sure she had everything she couldn't live without. Five minutes after that, her car was zooming down the highway.

A half an hour later, a black Suburban pulled up to her apartment complex. Six men piled out of it, a few of them adjusting their guns in their holsters.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own it.

**Author's Note: **Wow, you guys are so great. Sorry this chapter took a little longer to get out. Fourth of July was sort of crazy and all, but definitely my best ever! Hope everyone else had a good one, for those that celebrate it. And remember, reviews feed my muse.

Witness Protection

Chapter Four

As they drove down the highway, Veronica quickly related all of her father's instructions to Logan. He readily agreed to all of them, even the transfer of his money to her accounts.

"I trust you," he said, as if that was all he needed to put large amounts of money on the line.

The drive was mostly quiet and tense. Veronica could almost feel the waves of guilt rolling off Logan. When she couldn't take it anymore, she finally said, "It's not your fault."

"I practically handed you over to the Irish mafia on a silver platter, Veronica," he said quietly.

"Like I said, it's not your fault. I probably would have done the same thing." She didn't bother to include the words 'if it was you,' but they were certainly in her head. She didn't have to dwell on that though, because Logan's use of her name reminded her that it wasn't hers anymore. Not publicly, anyway. "And remember, when other people are around, I'm Emily Belmont."

Logan smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Nice name."

"Doesn't it suit me?"

"No. But do I get a codename too?"

Veronica had spent a lot of time thinking about that, even before he'd found her. "No. You're too well-known. It'd be pointless. And maybe even suspicious. It's not like we'll be shouting your full name from the rooftops or anything, so we should just stick with Logan for you."

"And there's the downside for having movie star parents. Especially a movie-star-turned-killer as a father."

She nodded. "No privacy, I know. Of course, the whole demanding attention and attempting to humiliate said father didn't help. But anyway, we'll use my name – Emily, not Veronica – at the hotels and anywhere else it's needed."

Logan tensed. "But what are they going to find when they search your apartment? Or when they talk to the landlord? Won't they get that name?"

Veronica smiled. "Remember how everyone used to tell me I was paranoid? Well...they were wrong then, but they're right now. I took precautions in case I ever had to run again. There are no pictures in that apartment, of anyone. Nothing with my real name on it, except for the stuff in the lock-box I had you grab. If they ask the landlord who lives in apartment 2G, he'll tell them it's a middle-aged man with red hair and his wife, Emily Belmont. Even if they show him a picture of me, he won't be able to tell them anything. He's never even seen me."

To say he was impressed would have been an understatement. "How did you manage that?"

"The redhead guy is a friend at a newspaper I work for sometimes. I told him I needed to get a hideout so my parents couldn't find me, and he said he knew just the place. I give him the money every month, and he hands in the check, under his name. Even the apartment is rented under his name. Point is, the Fitzpatricks won't find a single thing leading them to me."

He smiled again. "Your dad would be proud."

She shook her head sadly. "No, he wouldn't. He's disappointed." She stated it as a simple fact, somehow managing to keep all of her emotions on the subject out of her voice.

"Are you crazy?" Logan asked. "Your father, disappointed in his little angel? We are talking about the same guy, right? Sheriff, bald, affinity for orange powdered cheese, hates me?"

"There are a lot of things my father wanted for me, Logan," Veronica said, still being careful to keep her voice steady. "But I'm fairly sure that disappearing out of his life, and my own, for that matter, so I can live a life I don't love wasn't at the very top of his list. More than anything else, he wanted me to be happy. Do I look happy to you?"

"No," he admitted. "You look..." he trailed off, hesitating.

"Go ahead. You can say it."

"Defeated," Logan sighed, sounding very much defeated himself. "But you're not. And your father has no right to be disappointed in you. If it weren't for you, Liam wouldn't be in prison. He'd still be on the streets, hurting people."

"But we wouldn't be on the run either."

"You did the right thing, Veronica. You had to testify about what you saw."

"I know," Veronica replied quietly. "That's one of the few simple facts that I'm still absolutely sure about. The reason Dad's disappointed, though, is because he figures I shouldn't have seen it at all. He wanted me to never have to think about the...how did he put it? The seedy underbelly of society. The worst part is that he blames himself. For not trying harder to make sure I had a somewhat normal life after Mom left. For letting me help on his cases. He blames himself for me not being happy."

After a moment's deliberation, he reached out and put a hand on her knee, rubbing his thumb in slow circles, his awkward attempt at comfort. He didn't know where they stood, so he wasn't sure if the gesture was okay, but she didn't pull away. "He's just worried. You can't blame him." The way Veronica was avoiding all emotion was really making Logan nervous. "You know, the world isn't going to implode on you if you let yourself cry."

"No, but the road would get blurry and we might crash."

Logan smiled. "Why don't you let me take over for a little while?"

Veronica considered for a moment, before she spotted a road sign "King City, twenty-four miles away. Sounds like a place that might have a bank. What do you think?"

_Well, that's an effective conversation-ender right there,_ he thought. "Sounds good to me. Any idea where you want to go next?"

"Well, we've been going southeast so far. Dad said to go in the opposite direction, so I guess we'll head north again. Just have to avoid where we came from. So let's make a nice big arc around the town, then...I'm open for suggestions as to what's further north."

Logan bit his lip, trying to remember the name of the town where his father had once shot a movie, and barely anyone noticed him. When it came to him, he said, "There's this little town near Sacramento. Quiet place, where most people couldn't care less who we are. Called Grass Valley. Could spend tonight there, maybe head further north to Humboldt tomorrow. Then to Oregon."

"Fine by me."

When they pulled up to King City's branch of Bank of America, Veronica pulled out her phone and called the number she'd been told to call, in case she was ever in danger from the Fitzpatricks again. She knew she should have called the instant she realized there was something wrong, hell, the instant Logan showed up. And she definitely should have called the government instead of her father. But when push came to shove, she still lived by her instincts.

The phone rang several times before the answering machine clicked on. "You have reached the desk of Agent Arthur Wilson of the Federal Witness Protection Program. Please leave your name and contact information and I will return your call as soon as possible."

With a sigh, Veronica left a message, saying her location had been compromised and she was on the run with an old friend. She left her cell phone number and hung up, turning to Logan. "And that's why Dad said not to depend too much on the government. They never pick up their damn phones."

"And because they're all shady and possibly plotting the destruction of planet Earth," Logan replied with a smile. "But I'm sure it's that phone thing." He looked toward the bank, biting his lip nervously. "Okay...when we go in there...let me do most of the talking, okay? And just play along."

Confused, Veronica asked, "Why? You think there'll be a problem?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I take it you never tried to transfer a bunch of money with no trail without a given reason?"

She shook her head. "Can't say that's an area I'm experienced in. Why, have you?"

"My dad," he explained. "Went to the bank with him once. We were there a while." He held out his hand and waited for her to take it. "Trust me."

She met his eyes. "I do." Then she took his hand and allowed him to lead her into the bank.

The place was practically deserted, so Logan strode straight up to the nearest teller and said, "Hello. Can I please speak with the bank's manager?"

The woman fixed a perky smile onto her face and asked, "Are you sure it's nothing I can help you with, sir?"

Logan blinked. "I don't know. Let's see. I want to give a bunch of my money to her. And I don't want anyone to know where my money went."

The teller's smile disappeared, and she picked up her phone. She punched in a couple of numbers, then said, "Larry, this is Judy at Station three. There's a young man here who requires your assistance. Yes. Thank you." Perky smile back in place, Judy said, "He'll be right down. If you'd like to have a seat..." She gestured at a few chairs and couches near the center of the bank.

Logan nodded and walked with Veronica over to the one available love seat and they sat down. "Wow, Logan in charge," Veronica whispered.

"Have to be," Logan replied, taking care to keep his voice low. "You act like you know what you want, they ask less questions. If I seemed nervous, they'd be worried that you were holding my kittens hostage for ransom money or something." He glanced around, then said, "We're engaged. We're getting married in the spring, but we're worried about what the remnants of my family might say, so we're trying to keep it quiet. Okay?"

And she thought she'd been confused before. "Who are we, Romeo and Juliet?" But then, after a second's hesitation, during which she was given the eyebrow raise that she was sure had gotten many a girl into bed, she said, "Okay," before giving the hand she still held a gentle squeeze. After that, he shifted his body so he was facing her more, and he scooted a little closer. Understanding what he was doing, Veronica also turned toward him and smiled. He matched her smile, and the illusion was complete. To anyone who looked at them, they seemed like the perfect happy couple.

Not wanting it to seem like they were posing, Logan said, very quietly, "So a guy walks into a bar..."

Veronica giggled as the tenseness of the last few hours left her body momentarily. For a few seconds, she forgot how dire their situation was. Until the clearing of a throat reminded them.

"Excuse me. I was told you needed my assistance?"

Logan and Veronica looked away from each other to stare at what they assumed to be the bank manager. He had a kind look to him, and Veronica hoped he was a Shakespeare fan.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own it. Though I will say that Mr. Larry Perl is all mine.

**Author's Note: **Sorry it's a little shorter than usual. I just wanted to get _something_ out to you guys in a timely fashion. I don't know how quickly I'll be able to get the next one out though...I turn 21 on Wednesday, so I'm sure it'll be a crazy few days. But I'll try my hardest!

Witness Protection

Chapter Five

Logan and Veronica were led into the bank manager's office. They sat in the two seats across from the desk, and the man that had brought them there sat behind it. His nameplate declared him to be Larry Perl. He sat back in his seat and observed the couple. Finally, he said, "What can I do for you, Mr...?"

"Echolls," Logan filled in. "Logan Echolls." He offered his hand for the man to shake, and, as Mr. Perl grasped it, realization dawned on his face. He added, "Yes, _that _Logan Echolls. And this is my fiancé, Emily Belmont."

After shaking Veronica's hand, Mr. Perl said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Echolls, Miss Belmont. It's not often we get high profile customers in here. How can I help you?"

Without the slightest hint of a smile, Logan replied, "I want to transfer half of the money in my checking account to Emily. And I want to do it without it being traceable."

Veronica turned her head to him so quickly her neck cracked. "What? Logan, no, that's too much."

"No, it's not," he said quickly, turning back to Mr. Perl.

"May I have your account number?" he asked. Logan quickly rattled off a number, which he punched into his computer. When his eyes widened in shock, Logan knew he was staring at the account balance. "Mr. Echolls, you're...extremely well-off."

"Really?" Logan asked dryly. "I hadn't noticed."

"Logan," Veronica said quietly, putting her hand on his arm. "Really, we don't need that much."

He put his hand over hers. "It's okay. It's just money. Once this is over, we can move it back. But until then, we don't know how long we're going to be on the move, and I don't want them tracking my accounts."

Mr. Perl was leaning back in his chair again, studying them. "Perhaps one of you should enlighten me as to what your situation is. Of course, I can't stop you from giving any amount of money to your fiancé, Mr. Echolls, but to do so without a paper trail requires...extenuating circumstances."

Logan and Veronica looked at each other for a moment before facing the banker again. "I love Emily very much, Mr. Perl. Enough to be planning to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her. But I'm sure you've already wondered to yourself why two charming young people like us, particularly with my money, aren't wearing engagement rings."

Mr. Perl nodded. "It's crossed my mind."

"Let me level with you," Logan said, leaning forward in his chair. "The last time I was in a relationship half this serious, my father bashed my girlfriend's brains in with an ashtray. And he liked her. My whole family liked her."

Veronica rubbed Logan's arm as soothingly as she could. They didn't talk about Lilly a lot. It was just too strange, too heartbreaking, most of the time, and she knew he still struggled with it. So did she.

"We've talked a lot about it," Logan continued after flashing her a grateful smile, "and we've decided that we're not terribly interested in knowing what my family thinks this time around. Of course, there's not too many of them left, not my immediate family, anyway. But really, most of them are just as wonderful and upstanding as my father. So, our plan is to travel around for a while, see the sights and enjoy ourselves, while seeing if we can stand one another for long periods of time with only our own company. Once we're _sure_ we're ready...then we'll get married. And only then will I bring her home to meet the in-laws. And I won't leave her alone with a single one of them. Ever."

If asked, Veronica would have said he'd given an Oscar-worthy performance. Logan would have said he wasn't performing, just replacing her name with another.

"So you want to transfer your money to Miss Belmont's accounts because?" Mr. Perl asked.

"Because my family doesn't know about her. I mean, they know I'm with someone, and that it's serious, but they don't know who, or that we're engaged. We don't wear rings because we suspect my fantastic aunt has a private detective watching us, and that she's probably not the only one. They will be watching my accounts, and following where the withdrawals come from. They can't do that with Emily. So I want to get more than enough into her account for us to just...be. Until we can settle down in peace."

The banker sighed and turned to Veronica. "Miss Belmont, would you mind giving us a moment? There's a chair right outside that door you're welcome to use."

Logan tensed up instantly. "She doesn't leave my sight. Not ever. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of her." Veronica put a hand on his shoulder again, quietly assuring him of her presence. She knew he was worried that she'd bolt again, and, as much as she hated to admit it to herself, it was hard for her not to. Her being around him was endangering his life. She was quite sure she wouldn't make it a single day, knowing that she'd caused his death.

Mr. Perl clenched his jaw, but allowed Veronica to stay. "In that case, Miss Belmont, I apologize in advance if I offend you. However, if I don't ascertain whether or not Mr. Echolls is...well, frankly, in his right mind, then I would not be doing my job. To be honest, you look like quite a nice young lady, but...well, you get my point."

_Yeah, your point is that Ted Bundy looked like a nice person too._ "I understand. Ask whatever you want. I won't get offended."

He nodded, then said, "Mr. Echolls, what you are asking me to do is to allow you to give Miss Belmont a substantial sum of money, with absolutely no proof that you gave it to her. What is it that makes you so sure that she wont just run off with it?" He cast an apologetic look at Veronica. She shrugged, unfazed.

"I've known her since we were twelve, sir. She's proven, time and again, that money is most definitely _not_ the center of her universe."

Mr. Perl nodded again and then looked at the ceiling, as though silently praying for the strength to say his next words. He leaned forward and asked quietly, "And does your trust for her have anything to do with the fact that she was your former girlfriend's best friend?"

For a moment, both Logan and Veronica stared blankly at the man behind the desk. Veronica was the first to break out of her stupor. "Logan, we have to go now," she said, standing up and tugging on his arm a little. "He knows. And we have to go before he tells anyone else. Logan, come on. _Logan!"_

"No," he said quietly, putting a hand on the arm that was attempting to pull him out of his chair. "We can't yet. We have to know why he knows so we can avoid it in the future." He looked back at Mr. Perl as Veronica reluctantly returned to her seat. "Care to enlighten us?"

"The face of Miss Mars has indeed faded from the memory of the public, mostly. My wife, however, was very much in love with your father, and daily tirades against a certain Veronica Mars might make a man remember her. Now, if you'd just tell me what your real situation is, perhaps I can accommodate you."

Logan and Veronica looked at each other, before Veronica gave a tiny nod. "Veronica is in witness protection," Logan said. "I found her yesterday, but the people after her had my car bugged, we think. Her position is compromised. We don't want them watching where my withdrawals come from, and we know they've got at least one extremely annoying, but competent, private investigator working for them, which is why we're so worried about them getting a hold of my bank records. Now, how long have you known that we were lying?"

"Since you mentioned the murder of Lilly Kane," Mr. Perl responded. "Miss Mars looked familiar, and I was trying to place her face, but I never would have succeeded if you hadn't brought that point to my attention. Now," he added, typing a few things into his computer, "may I have your account number, Miss Mars?"

Shocked into silence again, Veronica simply stared at the man, until Logan poked her and said, "Ronnie. Account number?"

"Uh, right. Wait, what? You're going to help us?" she asked.

He looked at her carefully. "Miss Mars, I have nothing but respect for people who would give up their entire lives for the sake of justice. I will help you, and your secret is safe with me. The last thing I need is more tirades about how I didn't dismember you when given such a lovely opportunity. Account number?"

Veronica decided that, once all of this had blown over, if it ever did, she would be sending Larry Perl a very large fruit basket.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine.

**Author's Note: **So sorry it took so long! It's been one hell of a crazy week. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure I'm completely satisfied with this chapter, but I can't tweak it anymore. I hope to get another chapter out before I drown myself in Harry Potter 7, so look forward to that (hopefully!) Anyway, hope you like!

Witness Protection

Chapter Six

When Veronica and Logan were well on their way north, her cell phone started ringing. She glanced at Logan, who was taking his turn driving, and looked at the caller I.D.

"Who is it?" Logan asked.

"I don't know. It's a private number. Should I answer it?"

"Would it be suspicious if you didn't?"

"I'm a girl. My cell phone is ringing. Of course it'd be suspicious."

"Then answer it."

Veronica flipped open her phone and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello. May I speak to Emily Belmont, please?"

"You've got her," Veronica said, trying to keep the hesitance out of her voice.

"Ah, hello, Veronica. My name is Brett Michaels. I'm with the Witness Protection program."

Still not able to shake the uncomfortable feeling she had, she asked, "What happened to Agent Wilson?"

"A few days ago, he took an indefinite leave of absence. An urgent family matter required his attention. You'll understand that I can't elaborate."

Veronica frowned. She'd rather liked the agent she'd been dealing with. And it wasn't in her nature to hand out trust to a guy who called her out of the blue. "And you'll understand that I'll need definite proof that you are who you say you are before I tell you where I am."

"Of course," Agent Michaels said. "I assume you'll have your father do some digging for you. When is it that I should call back?"

"A couple days," Veronica replied. "I should be able to survive on my own that long, at least."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like us to come collect you? It really is the best thing to do in situations like these."

"I'm positive," she said before hanging up. "Witness Protection," she told Logan, before he could ask. "New agent, not sure if I can trust him. Mind staying on the run with me a couple more days, at least till Dad can tell me everything about him?"

Logan shrugged. "It's a burden I'll just have to bear, I guess."

There were a few things swirling in Veronica's mind, all of which she was very carefully choosing not to say. First, she was wondering whether her avoidance of her new agent had anything to do with how, the second they came and got her, Logan would be out of her life again. Even more than that, she was pondering if she ever wanted to go back into that program. The life she'd built in the last year was already shot. She hadn't been very attached to it anyway, but starting all over again just seemed so pointless. After all, Logan had found her once. She had no doubt he'd do it again.

She'd had her reasons for not running away with him in the first place, of course. Her main reason was that, if the Fitzpatricks thought she wasn't under government protection, they would have 'questioned' her friends endlessly. This way, even her friends didn't know where she was, and the Fitzpatricks knew that. So they were safe.

"So why don't you trust him?" Logan asked, startling her out of her reverie.

"I don't know. Just...you know, it's not in my nature to trust people. And I trusted the guy I had before, but this guy is new and he's just been assigned to my case. Anyway, he doesn't seem so much evil as...snooty. But I want my dad to check him out, just in case."

He nodded. "Understood. Need my phone to call him?"

Veronica shook her head. "No. I'll call once we find a hotel and get settled in." She yawned. "How much longer do you think it'll be?"

"Few more hours, at least," Logan guessed. "You tired?"

"Little bit," she replied. "But don't worry. I'll stay awake to keep you company. I know how boring long drives can get when everybody around you dozes off."

"You slept okay last night though, didn't you?" he asked, concern lacing his voice. When they were together, he'd never been able to sleep if she couldn't. It was one of his favorite things about them. He was sure, even in the state he was in the previous night, that he wouldn't have stayed asleep long if she couldn't.

"You haven't lost your spidey-sense, if that's what you're asking," Veronica replied with a smile, reading his mind. "I slept great last night. It's just that I haven't had a lot of nights of great sleep recently. Or even decent sleep, really."

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah. Mostly about what would happen if they found me. Or if they thought one of my friends knew where I was." She looked at him, at the healing cuts on his face. "Guess that one came true."

"So you didn't have nightmares last night...what did you dream about?" Logan asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Nothing," Veronica said too quickly. Logan looked at her oddly. Somehow, she didn't think telling him she'd dreamed of finding her happily ever after, with him, would help her with her goal of ignoring her feelings and their past until she could figure out what to do. "I didn't dream last night. And if I did, I can't remember," she added.

The eyebrow he raised at her told her he didn't believe her, but he let it go anyway. "If you want to sleep, I won't be offended."

Veronica simply leaned forward and fiddled with the radio, until she found a hard rock station. Then she turned it up and leaned back in her seat, flashing him a smile.

* * *

Logan was fairly sure that the hotel they found themselves in was the _only_ hotel in all of Grass Valley. Not that Grass Valley was big enough to need more than one.

The town was beautiful, of course. As Veronica had mentioned when they passed the city limits, there were shades of green there that simply didn't exist in southern California. They'd also seen at least three deer on their drive through town.

Veronica brushed past Logan into the room, dropping her bag on the bed. The one and only bed. "Logan," she said slowly. "Remember when we talked about getting a room with two beds? Or is there another one that I just can't see?"

"I remember," Logan replied. "They were all out. Or they never had any in the first place, I'm not quite sure. And this is the only hotel in town. I tried to make up for it by getting one of the nicer rooms."

She looked around the room. He'd succeeded at that, it seemed. The room came complete with a kitchenette and a glance into the bathroom showed a jacuzzi tub, in addition to a separate shower. "You're forgiven," Veronica said, looking forward to spending an hour or so in that bath. "But don't think this is a regular occurrence, mister."

"I'll sleep on the floor," Logan offered.

"You'll do no such thing," Veronica replied. "If anyone gets the floor, it's the uninjured party. And that's me."

"You think I'm going to let you sleep on the floor?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

"Then we share," she said quietly. It wasn't a big deal. After all, they'd shared the night before, though she'd told herself at least a hundred times that it was just a fluke. Still, she wouldn't be making a habit out of this. Not if she wanted to keep her head clear. "Can I have your phone? I should call my dad."

Logan nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket, reminding himself that he should give Dick a call at some point to avoid making the blond surfer worry. After all, he might hurt himself.

Veronica took the phone from him and called her father. He answered on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, dad. I'm safe. And with Logan. We did the stuff you told us to."

"Thank god. Have you talked to anyone at Witness Protection yet?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, actually, I was hoping you could help me with that." She told him all the details of her conversation with Agent Michaels, then added that, should he need help hacking government records, he should give her friend Mac a call.

"Oh, and sweetie, one more thing," he said after they'd discussed everything vital. "Is Logan in the room with you?"

"Bathroom," Veronica replied, wondering what was on her father's mind.

"Okay. You know he's been looking for you almost since the day you left?" he asked.

She nodded, then, realizing he couldn't see her, said, "Yeah, he told me."

"Well, I just feel like I should point out that he probably didn't do that because he misses your conversation. I think he's in it for the long haul, and if you're not prepared for that, we should really make some other arrangements for you soon." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Are you prepared, Veronica?"

Veronica watched as the bathroom door opened and Logan sauntered out, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I don't know, dad," she said quietly, blinking back sudden tears.

Logan heard the tone of her voice and went over to her, concerned. "You okay?" he asked.

Keith, hearing Logan's voice carrying over the phone, finished that conversation with, "Just keep it in mind, okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah," Veronica replied, both to her father and to Logan. "I'll talk to you later, Dad. Call Logan's phone if you get anything on Agent Michaels, okay?"

"Alright. Love you."

"Love you too, Dad."

She snapped the phone shut and handed it to Logan, who took it and placed it on the nightstand. "Dare I ask what got you so worked up?"

"Nothing," Veronica said, again, far too quickly.

Logan sighed and went to dig in his bag. "God, Veronica, aren't you sick of this? I'm not a complete moron. You say 'nothing' like that, and I know damn well it's about me. We could dance around this for however long we're running, but doesn't it just make you tired?" He found what he was looking for, a small box, and tossed it on the bed in front of her.

Veronica opened the box and gasped. It was a beautiful ring, a diamond solitaire. "What is this, Logan?"

Logan hesitated. He took a deep breath before deciding to just show all his cards. "That's the ring I bought when I thought I might ask you to marry me."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Strangely enough, still not mine.**  
**

**Author's Note:** 'Dude' is the most addictive word in the English language. Seriously, once you start saying it, you can't stop. Dude. Other than that, I made this chapter extra long (and decided not to end on a particularly evil cliffhanger) and extra fluffy because I will, like half of the world, be disappearing into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in less than 24 hours, and will not emerge again until I'm done with it. Don't worry, I read quickly, though if my favorite characters die, my pace might be slowed by my sobbing. I hope to have another chapter for you within the week, but if I can't, I apologize. Anyway, I _love_ your reviews. They're extremely inspirational. If I get to a roadblock, I read them again and I'm reminded that people like me enough that I should continue. Thank you so much for your support. Enjoy!

Witness Protection

Chapter Seven

For perhaps the third time in her adult life, Veronica was speechless. She kept looking from the ring to Logan, and back again. Were the situation much less intense, Logan would have been laughing at her antics. But he knew she wasn't acting. She really was every bit as shocked as she seemed.

For Veronica's part, even though she couldn't get her mouth to work, her mind was racing with questions. When had he bought the ring? They'd known each other for eleven years, and been together on and off for the past six. Knowing Logan, he could have bought it for her any time since their first kiss. Why did he bring it with him? Closing her eyes, she could practically picture him tossing things haphazardly into a travel bag, and then seeing the box sitting on his dresser, and saying 'What the hell?' and throwing it in the bag.

There was also a very distracting voice in her head that sounded all too much like her dad. It was saying 'I told you so.' Repeatedly.

The silence was broken by Logan's cell phone ringing. He picked it up and looked at the caller I.D. "You know, I was just thinking of calling him," he said as he flipped open his phone. "Hey, Dick."

"Hey, dude, what's happening?" Dick asked.

"Nothing. You've just got perfect timing, as usual," he said, looking at Veronica. She was running a finger over the ring, seemingly oblivious to his conversation.

"Oh, cool. So, you found Ronnie yet?"

"What?" Logan asked. "How did you...?"

"Dude, I'm not stupid. I've been waiting for you to mysteriously disappear on some top-secret Ronnie-related mission since like the day after she left. Would have appreciated some notice though. All you had to do was leave a note. You know, 'Went to go make mad monkey love with hot girl detective. Catch some extra waves for me.' That would have been enough."

He sighed, sitting down on the bed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I left in kind of a hurry."

"Yeah, I can tell. Your place has been, like, ransacked or something."

Logan tensed. "I didn't ransack it."

"Well, somebody did. I hope you didn't leave anything about where you were headed."

"No, I didn't. They tracked my car though. But we ditched it this morning."

"Good call, dude. How's Ronnie doing? She still smokin' hot?" Dick asked.

Logan looked over to her again and smiled a little. "She's just as beautiful as ever." At that, Veronica looked up and smiled back at him.

"Dude, you haven't seen her in over a year, haven't had sex with her in like four, and you're _still_ whipped. Bummer."

"I'm strangely okay with it," he replied. "Listen, man, I gotta go."

"Alright. Call me if you need help with anything."

Logan was surprised at the offer, but grateful. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later."

"Later, dude."

After hanging up, he looked at Veronica again and said, "I guess it's comforting to know that some things never change."

"I never expected Dick Casablancas to change," Veronica replied quietly, still studying the ring. "When did you buy it, Logan?"

He sighed. "The same night you saw the murder."

She finally tore her eyes away from the ring to meet his. "Our last year at Hearst," she said slowly, "we'd been spending so much time together."

"Almost every free moment. Maybe a month before...I saw the moment you forgave me for all of it. I can't remember what I said, but you smiled at me in that way you have and I just knew that we were finally back where we were supposed to be. But I didn't want to rush things, so I decided to just keep hanging around you and ask you out again after graduation."

Veronica remembered that time period perfectly, but she had made quite an effort to block it out, which didn't always work. She cherished the memories, but after the first four times that she had Logan's number on her cell phone screen, her finger poised over the call button, she knew she had to stop thinking about their possibilities. She was almost afraid that she remembered wrong, so she continued to rehash the day leading up to the murder aloud. "And that day, we were studying for finals. Our last finals..."

"And you kissed me," Logan finished.

"I don't know what prompted me to do it, except that I just wanted to so badly. I'd wanted to every second since we broke up. And then I did, and...I wasn't thinking about Madison, or Duncan or Lilly, or any of our other baggage. And it was just...perfect," Veronica sighed.

Logan was quiet for a moment, remembering that kiss. It had been the first time their lips had touched in years...and the last time. Finally, he said, "But you had a case. You had to go on a stake-out. I offered to go with you..."

"But I wanted you to keep studying. I was determined that you were going to get an A on that Shakespeare final. So I told you I'd be fine and I promised we'd talk about us the next day. So I went home and showered and then went on my stake out."

"I stayed and studied like a good little boy for another hour after you left. But then I couldn't sit still, and I just wanted to go out and do something about how I couldn't get you off my mind. I was driving around and I saw the jewelry store and I went in. I was just going to buy you a necklace or something, but then the lady that worked there saw me, saw how happy I looked, and took a wild guess that I was thinking about proposing to 'a very lucky lady.' And that's when I decided..." he trailed off.

"Decided what?" Veronica asked.

Logan sighed and took a few deep breaths, debating whether or not he wanted to give her the ammunition she could use to brutally tear his heart out, if that was what she wanted to do. _Warts and all, _he thought before plunging on. "That I wasn't really interested in being with anybody but you. Ever." Ignoring Veronica's shocked look, not to mention everything he was sure he saw flickering in her eyes, he continued, "So I told her yes, I was thinking about proposing. And she started asking all these questions about you, about what your style was, and then how I intended on proposing..."

"How did you?" she wondered. "Plan on proposing, that is."

"I told her I hadn't thought it through yet. I knew the when, but not the how."

"Okay, then when?"

He looked away from her, suddenly finding the blankets on the bed very interesting. "I was going to wait until you said you loved me, the actual words, without me saying them first. Then I was going to find the first extremely romantic situation I could, and propose."

Had Logan been looking at her, Veronica would have found anything other than him to look at. But since he was picking at a loose thread in the blanket, studying it as though it held all the answers to life's questions, she couldn't take her eyes off him. "I never said it, did I?"

"When I asked if you loved me, you said yes," Logan replied. "But the words, 'I love you' never came out of your mouth, no." He looked up at her and she realized her keys held the same amount of fascination as his loose thread. "Anyway, I ended up keeping the jewelry people there for three hours after the store closed, just looking for the perfect ring. I found it, I bought it...and for some reason, I'm convinced that the second I bought that ring is the same second when you saw that drug dealer get killed."

"It's the epic thing," she said quietly. "It's more epic if it happened at the same time." She mentally matched his story up with hers. "Though I think you might be right."

Having just poured his heart out to her, Logan was a little confused at her lack of reaction. "Is that all you have to say? Just that, yeah, bad timing adds to the epic nature of us?"

"No, I have more to say," Veronica replied, getting up and going to her bag. She pulled her keys off of her belt loop and pulled the lock box from her apartment out of the bag. She opened the box and pulled out a stack of letters, all in envelopes, and all already addressed. She handed them to Logan. "I just think those can probably explain better."

Logan took the stack from her and looked at the names and addresses. About three quarters of the letters, of which there were at least fifty, were addressed to him. There was also a generous helping of letters to Wallace, Mac, and Keith. There were a few each to Parker and Piz, and even one to Dick. "What are these?"

"All the letters I almost sent. A lot of the ones to you say pretty much the same thing, but I kept rewriting them anyway. Some tell you about what was going on in my life, and then I figured it wasn't important and wrote a different letter. Others are just stream of consciousness, trying to get those thoughts out of my head. I can't explain where my mind's been since I left, but they can. So read them, if you want. Just the ones addressed to you. I'm going to go take a bath."

He watched her, silently, as she gathered her pajamas from her bag and walked into the bathroom, not quite closing the door behind her. "I'm leaving the door open," she told him.

"Is an open door an invitation?" Logan asked, unable to help himself.

"An open door is a security measure. I'll know if someone breaks the door down and starts shooting, and you'll know I'm not climbing out the window." She paused. "Also, I have a feeling you're going to want to talk about those letters. And I think we'd both rather not do that through a closed door." With that, Veronica slipped into the bathroom, and Logan could hear her start running the water. He knew she'd be making it nearly hot enough to scald, and then adding as many scented bubbles as she could.

Shaking his head to get rid of the mental image of Veronica slowly stripping her clothes off, Logan pulled the first letter off the top of the stack and opened it. He unfolded the sheet of paper to find Veronica's writing instead of a typed letter. _She got that from Lilly,_ he thought. _Always loved hand-written letters...more personal than typed letters. _By the date on the letter, which was five days before he showed up at her door, he could tell that it was the most recent she'd written.

_Dear Logan,_

_I have so many things I know I should tell you, but I don't know how to do all of them justice. I probably won't send this anyway, so I don't see the point, but if I do, there are a few things you should know._

_I'm sorry for so many things. I'm sorry I never trusted you. You were always the first person I suspected for everything, and if it wasn't you, then it was definitely one of your friends. I know how strong your feelings for me were; I should have trusted in that. More than anything, I'm sorry my snooping got in the way of us, particularly this last time._

_On another note, I feel like I'm being stalked by yellow X-terras. I swear, I see them everywhere. I know you drive the Rover now, but that hideous yellow thing is still the car I associate with you. Every time I see one, my heart jumps into my throat and plummets down through my stomach at the same time. It's a confusing sensation._

_My dad tells me you're still looking for me. Logan, you have to stop. We're so much safer this way. It's killing me, but not in the literal sense that it would if _they_ found me. In some ways, there's nothing I would like more than to run away with you. But if I was free, really free, you and I both know I would never be able to resist calling up Wallace or my dad and having them come see me, us. And the second they know where I am, we're all in even more danger. I wish there was some way I could make you understand._

_But I'm not being fair to you. I'm telling you not to look for me, so I should tell you that I'm not interested anymore, to make it easier for you to just give up on me. But I can't lie to you. I love you, Logan. I've loved you since the first time you saved me, from that crazy ATF agent. It's just that other things generally get in the way._

_But if the situation ever changes, and I can be sure we're all safe, you'll be the very first person I call._

_-V_

The letter brought tears to his eyes. Veronica loved him. The fact that he'd found out from a letter she never intended on sending didn't bother him. The important thing was that she loved him, even if she couldn't say the words aloud yet. She loved him. And that changed everything. He couldn't let her get sucked back into the Witness Protection program. He'd fight harder; he couldn't lose her again.

He shuffled through a few more letters, and Veronica had been right. Most of them sounded a lot like the first one he'd read, though he did find one that was by far his favorite.

_Logan,_

_There aren't a lot of things I'm absolutely certain of anymore. But there's one thing I know for sure: I will love you every second for the rest of my life._

_-V_

Logan folded that letter back into its envelope and tucked it into his own bag for safekeeping. Then he got up and went to the bathroom door. He knocked lightly on the frame. "Veronica?"

He heard a little bit of motion and splashing. "Come on in," Veronica invited, her voice anxious.

"But you're all naked and stuff," Logan said, in case she'd forgotten.

She giggled a little bit. "All of the important parts are covered up by bubbles. Unless you'd rather talk through the door."

He rushed into the bathroom to find that she had put enough bubbles in that bath to cover Rhode Island. "Veronica..." he started, but then found himself at a loss for words. She let him take a moment, in which he decided that words were overrated.

Logan strode over to the edge of the bathtub, leaned down, and captured Veronica's lips in a passionate kiss, which she gladly returned. His hands cradled her face, and one of her hands came up to grasp at his sweater. A minute later, they parted, Veronica flushed, and both of them panting for breath.

"So, once you're done with that bath, maybe we should get to the whole talking thing. I think we've put it off long enough, don't you?" Logan asked, before leaving the bathroom. Veronica stared after him for a moment, stunned, before reaching out to unplug the drain and empty the bathtub.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine

**Author's Note:** I am _so_ sorry this took so long. I was dealing with serious Harry Potter Angst for like a week, mostly because my favorite character died and every time I even thought his name, I started crying. So, for you Harry Potter fans, there's an upcoming fic dealing with that. And then my mom informed me that she was giving me $5000 to move out. So there's been a crazy frantic apartment search going on as well. So, I'm sorry it took forever, and I'm sorry it's not longer, but I just wanted to get you something, since you've been so wonderful to wait so long. I hope you like it!

Witness Protection

Chapter Eight

Veronica walked out of the bathroom about five minutes later, clad in pajamas, with her hair wrapped in a towel. Logan sat on the bed, Veronica's letters strewn across his lap.

"What I'm really wondering," Logan said, "is what the hell you had to say to Dick."

They'd just had their first kiss in a year and a half, and _that_ was what he was wondering? She shrugged, deciding to play along. "Mostly told him to stop you from doing anything too stupid." Off his look, she added, "I know, I know, the idea of Dick not being stupid is ludicrous, but who else could I tell to look out for you? Dick's the only one of your friends who will even talk to me. And somehow, I can't see Weevil doing me that big of a favor."

"Oh, yeah, Weevil," Logan said, shuffling through the letters again. "There's nothing in here to him. You finally realize Paco's not worth your time?"

Veronica flushed. "I talk to Weevil once a week."

His jaw dropped. "I...you...what?"

"They're not watching him. He keeps me updated on the happenings in Neptune, and he's keeping an eye on the Fitzpatricks. We're hoping he'll find something we can use against them. Some sort of bargaining chip that would keep me safe so I could come out of hiding." She sighed and sat down on the bed, facing him. "So I could go back."

"Why did he never tell me?" Logan asked. "I mean, I've talked to him. He never said a word."

"Hey, remember how Weevil hates you?" Veronica asked. "Anyway, he doesn't know anything that would have helped you."

"He knows you're alive, not dead in a ditch somewhere. That's a _lot_ more than I had."

Not for the first time, she realized how much her departure had affected the people around her. Particularly Logan, considering the terrible timing. "I'm sorry. I don't know how many times I can say it, Logan. But can't you see that I had no other choice?"

"Yeah," he admitted, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it." He picked up another letter from the bed and found those three words again. "You can't go back. You just...can't."

"I can't spend my whole life running either. And even if I did leave the Witness Protection program, I somehow doubt they're keen to just allow it. They spent a lot of time, effort, and money to hide me, you know?"

"Great, so now we're running from the Fitzpatricks _and_ the government," Logan said, absolutely refusing to entertain the idea of losing her again.

Veronica sighed. She had to admit that running every day, from one hotel to the next, until she died, still sounded more appealing than forcibly ejecting Logan from her life. Again. "Okay, we're agreed that, whatever we do, we do it together, right?"

He smiled. "As it seems that you've caught onto that idea, yes, we're agreed about that."

"So what are our options?" she asked.

"You mean, besides finding a magical genie who happens to know a way to bring down the Fitzpatricks?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Yes, besides that."

"I could enter Witness Protection with you. It's not ideal, but at least we'd be together."

Shaking her head, she replied, "Not unless you'd like massive facial reconstruction. You're too easily recognizable." She paused, biting her lip. "It's the reason I didn't ask you to come along in the first place."

Logan froze. "Well, that certainly explains a lot. I always wondered."

"Wondered what? If I was just mad at you?"

He hesitated, then said, "If you were just taking your first real opportunity to get me out of your life for good."

She shook her head. "No, I knew better by then. I _can't_ keep you out of my life. I learned that after the sex tape incident. You just won't give up and I'm...drawn to you. Any attempt to get rid of you just ends in me feeling like crap and you either moping or beating someone to a pulp. And then us finding our way back anyway. But when I left..."

Logan could feel how important her next words were going to be. He doubted that they would be the three he so desperately wanted to hear, but he knew, somehow, they were vital to their relationship. "What? When you left...what?"

"I knew you'd find me. I knew it wasn't the way our story ended. See, by then, I was completely with you on the epic thing. And epic stories don't end like that. But I've gotta say, by the time you did catch up with me, I'd almost given up thinking you would. Or that you even wanted to."

"Didn't your dad tell you I was looking? I called him all the time. Pretty sure he's been ready to kill me for the last few months."

"He told me at first. But after a while he stopped. I think he could tell that I was on the edge of completely blowing my cover and calling you. So he stopped adding to the temptation, I guess." Veronica had to wonder why Logan insisted on talking. He'd just gotten his first hard evidence that she loved him, and he'd kissed her in such a way that her body was still humming. Why were they talking when they could be doing so much more enjoyable things?

Logan seemed to follow her train of thought, even though she hadn't said anything. "So, can you say it yet?" he asked.

She didn't need to ask what he was talking about. And, unlike every moment before, it came easily to her. "I love you, Logan."

Apparently, that was all Logan needed to spur him into action. He was on her in a second, his lips meeting hers and sending up sparks in the pit of her stomach. He gently pulled the towel off of her head and dropped it on the floor so they could fall back onto the bed without it getting in the way. Some of Veronica's letters were crushed between them, as he hadn't bothered to remove them from the bed, or his lap, before pouncing on her.

Now this, _this_ was what she had been waiting for. Kissing Logan was an experience unlike any other. That first summer, she remembered thinking that any moment she spent not kissing him was a moment wasted. As he playfully bit her bottom lip, she decided, through the pleasant haze that had settled over her brain, that that was still true.

He pulled away after several heated moments. Searching her eyes, he asked, "Say it again?"

She smiled. "I love you, Logan."

"I love you too, Veronica."

Much, much later, Veronica would wonder when exactly it was that her clothes, and Logan's, had disappeared. And how the ring had ended up on her finger.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Not mine

**Author's Note:** Oh, wow, SO sorry it took so long! And I'm moving in like less than 36 hours, so it might be a while till the next one, where we will probably leave the land of the Fluff and start actually dealing with the issues. Probably. Anyway, you guys are wonderful, and I'll try to get a chapter out to you as soon as I can.

Witness Protection

Chapter Nine

Within the past twenty-four hours, Veronica had given up her adopted life, gone on the run with someone she thought she would never see again, admitted her love for Logan, out loud for the first, second, and sixteenth times, been endlessly satisfied, and become engaged.

She was reminded of this last fact when she woke up in the morning and caught the sparkle on her finger. A small smile came to her face, compounded by the feel of Logan's arm draped over her midsection. She could tell by his deep, even breathing that he was still asleep. She couldn't blame him. The sun was just starting to come up, and Logan was hardly a morning person, even at the best of times.

Veronica took the moment to contemplate her situation. She was used to running. She ran from Piz when she couldn't tell him why they would never work. From Duncan, when she was too hurt to look at him. From the Fitzpatricks, of course. From her entire life, when Lilly had died. She had run from Logan a hundred times, given even the slightest excuse. But to be running _with _him...well, that was a whole new experience. She was almost looking forward to it, in a way.

Still, their bliss couldn't last forever. Reality was starting to sink in, and she knew she'd have to drag both of them out of bed in the next few minutes. They had to start moving again. Humboldt was their next destination, if she remembered right. From what she'd heard, that was a huge national forest area, not to mention one of the biggest pot-smoking towns in the country, not that that little tidbit mattered much to her. With any luck, there'd still be a cabin available somewhere. At least, if they got moving soon.

Veronica turned in his arms to face him. "Logan," she said quietly. "Time to get up."

Logan groaned and tightened his hold on her, drawing her even closer to him. "No it's not."

"It is if we want even a chance of getting a decent room in Humboldt on a weekend. Plus, we have to go shopping."

His eyes flew open. "Shopping? Why do we have to shop?" He paused. "And why do you hate me?"

She smiled. "We're heading north. It's winter. Did you think to bring any warm clothes with you? I know I didn't."

"Of course not. Remember Neptune, that place where we lived? Where the two seasons we have are summer and slightly-colder-and-occasionally-wetter summer? I don't own anything for cold weather."

"Yeah, you do. You went to Aspen. You had to have worn something warm there, or you would have frozen to death"

Logan muttered something. Off Veronica's look, he said it again, this time slightly louder and clearer. "I might have...accidentally, of course...burned everything from my last visit. And it had nothing to do with a ritual purging of the evil. Really. And I haven't needed anything warmer than a long-sleeved shirt since."

Veronica smiled, ducking her head so he couldn't see it. That was the first time Madison was mentioned, though not by name, that she hadn't seen red and started plotting revenge. Which, to her mind, was proof that she had finally forgiven him. And they could move on. Recovering, she said, "Well, you need it now. It might _snow_ in Humboldt, Logan. You know, that white powdery stuff that's really cold and falls from the sky?"

If it was possible, Logan's arms tightened around her even further. "Don't need to shop. You can keep me warm."

She smiled again. "What? You expect to just stay in bed under the covers the entire time we're there?"

He pulled away a little and looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Well..."

She decided not to comment on how much that idea appealed to her, instead electing to place a soft kiss on his lips. After a moment, she pulled away and lightly smacked his shoulder. "Up. Shopping. Now." She got out of bed and went in search of clothing. Logan groaned and, accepting his fate, joined her in the search.

* * *

"Emily, if you actually purchase that, you'll end up using it to fuel a fire when I toss you out into the snow," Logan said. He'd caught onto Veronica's new name fairly quickly, but it still made her grate her teeth every time she heard him say it.

"What? You're allowed to wear bright orange. You know, that kind of bright orange hunters wear into the woods so they don't get shot by their friends, Dick Cheney style? But I can't wear this?" Veronica asked, a playful tone in her voice.

"That shade of pink is so ostentatious that I think I can actually feel my brain melting. We're supposed to be trying to _blend in, _remember? Not to mention, it's made of some horrible poly-blend. And it doesn't look warm." Running out of arguments against the hideous jacket Veronica had found, Logan added, "And what color do _you_ think I should be wearing?"

"Green," she said instantly. "Seriously, Logan, the more green in your wardrobe, the better my life gets."

He looked around and spotted a green sweater. He grabbed it and held it up to his chest. "I'll get the green if you'll get rid of the pink. And promise to wash before touching me. I don't want the essence of that thing on me."

Veronica rolled her eyes, but removed the pink monstrosity and put it back on its hanger. She would never have bought it, but she'd wanted to get a rise out of him...and it had worked. And he was going to buy something green as an extra bonus. She picked out a black jacket that looked incredibly warm. "What about this?"

"_So_ much better," Logan replied, relieved that she wasn't picking out any more clothes designed to hurt his eyes. He walked around and picked out a couple more items in green. _Dick was right,_ he thought. _I am so whipped._

* * *

Keith called while they were driving up to Humboldt. Glancing at the caller ID, Logan answered the phone with, "Hey, dude."

"Logan," Keith said, his voice tight. "I assume my daughter is still with you?"

Logan could practically hear the older man's eye twitching. "Yes, she is. And I assume you want to talk to her?"

"In a minute. First, as bad TV-movie as this is going to sound, I'd really love to know what your intentions toward my daughter are."

He smiled and glanced at Veronica, who was dozing in the seat next to him. "My intentions are as honorable as one such as myself could manage." He paused, then added, "Dude."

"Honorable?" Keith asked sceptically. "You do know that I keep my shotgun loaded, don't you? Some honestly would not go amiss right now."

"I've got a camera on my phone. Would you like me to take a picture of the ring she's wearing?" _Well, if that doesn't cause an aneurysm, I just don't know what will..._

"Ring? There's a _ring?_ Put her on. _Now."_

Logan smiled. "Ronnie," he said, careful to keep his eyes on the road as he shook her a little.

"No, I don't wanna dance with the clown," Veronica muttered.

"That's great, sweetie, but your dad's on the phone," Logan said, holding it out in front of her. It was clear that he was barely holding back his laughter.

"Oh, sorry." She looked at him. "Um...clown fear." She took the phone. "Hey, Dad. Find anything about Agent Michaels?"

"Later. What's this I hear about a ring?"

She glared at Logan. He shrugged. "Yeah, actually, right after we got off the phone last night...are you gonna be any less angry about this if I open the explanation by telling you that you were right?"

Silence stretched across the phone line, until Keith finally sighed and said, "I'm not...angry, honey. It just seems a little sudden, that's all. I want to be sure you know what you're doing. What are you going to do about Witness Protection? And if you really do intend to marry him, when is that going to be? And you do know that I violently dislike this one, right?"

Veronica laughed. "I know, Dad. As for Witness Protection, as soon as you tell me it's safe to talk to this new guy, I'll meet up with him and tell him I want out. They can't keep me there, like, legally, can they? And as for when...I don't know. For now, we're just going to be engaged for a while. Can't get married without you there, after all, but can't get you there without risking all of our lives. So for now, we're engaged. But it's a commitment. And that's a step in the right direction for us."

Keith muttered something that sounded suspiciously like him preferring Veronica dating Eli Navarro, but she chose to ignore it, so he continued. "Your Agent Brett Michaels checks out. He's squeaky clean. Not even a speeding ticket on his record. And no, they can't keep you against your will unless you've done something illegal...that they know about, that is."

She could tell that he wanted to ask a million more questions, most of which would probably sound a lot like 'Are you sure this jackass is the one for you, Veronica?' but she was glad he didn't. "Alright. He's supposed to call again tomorrow. I'll talk to him then." She took a deep breath. "I really do love him, you know."

Logan smiled and twined his fingers with hers. "I know," Keith said. "Call me after you've talked to the Agent tomorrow."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too." He hung up.

"So," Logan started, "how'd he take it?"

Veronica chuckled. "He may have said something about how he'd prefer me with Weevil. Might have something to do with the grudging respect Weevil occasionally gives him."

Logan squeezed her hand. "Who needs respect when we've got blinding annoyance?" He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back. "I'll try to play nice with the Dude if he'll return the favor."

She smiled. "Good boy."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Again, still not mine.

**Author's Note: **I am a bad person. I am so sorry to have abandoned you for three months. There's really no excuse, but if it helps any, I do have a bit of an explanation. Picking up my life and moving 300 miles away from where I've lived my whole life, and finally away from my family for the first time, has been a little insane. Add in job hunting and the craziest dreams I've had in my life, which led straight to insomnia that lasted for days...which I would have used to write, had I not been stumped by Writer's Block. I felt like I'd written myself into a very tight corner, and that my only path out was overused and cliche, but luckily, I had a friend to help me out, which leads me to...

**Dedication:**This chapter and all that will follow it are dedicated to my good friend Kelly, for fixing my three-month-long Writer's Block in about five minutes...while never having read this story. She presented me with an idea, which immediately evolved in my brain into a solution that I hadn't seen done before. I bow down to her genius, and hope against hope that she'll watch the third season soon so she can actually start reading this. Also, further dedication to everyone who reviewed, because the reviews truly are helpful for the Writer's Block, to make me remember that I'm not just doing this for me anymore.

Now, without any further delay...

Witness Protection

Chapter Ten

True to his word, Agent Michaels called the next day and, thanks to her dad's poking into his background, Veronica was actually willing to talk to him this time around. It also helped that he called at the moment she and Logan were preparing to leave their cabin in Humboldt to travel further north, and she would have done anything to delay that moment...even make a deal to meet up to sign papers that would release her from the Witness Protection program.

"Hello, Veronica. Agent Brett Michaels here," he greeted her. "I trust that you are still safe in the company of Mr. Echolls?"

Veronica was shocked for a moment, but recovered quickly. "How did you know that I'm with Logan?"

"Veronica," he said, his voice dripping with superiority, "it is my job to know where you are and who you are associating with. Please give me at least a little credit. Though you are covering your tracks quite well, and we can't seem to find you, Mr. Echolls' car was found at your apartment. As his body was not also found there, and he seems to have disappeared from everywhere else, it is simply logical deduction that he is with you."

"Well, I can see how you ended up working for the government," Veronica said, not entirely unkindly. She still didn't like this guy, but that didn't make him evil. Just annoying.

"Getting back to the point, I assume your father has told you that I'm safe to talk to?"

"Yep, you checked out fine. So I feel perfectly okay with telling you that I want out of Witness Protection."

Veronica figured that if Agent Michaels were a less composed man, he would have been sputtering into the phone. Instead, he took a moment to process that, and then responded with, "Are you sure that's the correct decision to make? After all, the Fitzpatricks are still very much a threat, and this program is not likely to hide you again if you find that a life on the run is not something you are capable of."

"I'm sure," she said, smiling at Logan. He crossed the room to hold her hand and place a kiss to the top of her head. "I'd rather run with someone I love than be stuck in a life where no one knows me enough to love me. I know it's a huge risk, but it's one I have to take."

Agent Michaels sighed. "There is, of course, not a lot we can do to stop you. We can hardly hold you against your will, though, in my opinion, it would be for your own good. You do realize we will have to meet up at some point, preferably soon, so you can sign the paperwork and release us from our obligation to hide you?"

"Of course I know that," Veronica replied, walking over to her laptop. It was always the first thing to get unpacked, and the last thing to get packed away again. She and Logan had already discussed where they would be for the next few days of traveling. They'd planned to drive to Portland that day, and then to Seattle the day after that. She quickly googled diners in Seattle and said, "How about...two days from now at Andy's Diner in Seattle. Say...3:00 in the afternoon?"

"That sounds acceptable. Will you be bringing Mr. Echolls with you?"

She had no idea why that mattered, but she answered anyway. "Yeah, Logan's not likely to let me out of his sight anytime soon. So I'll see you on..." She had to wrack her brain to remember which day it was. They'd started to bleed together since she was constantly on the move. "Wednesday? Yeah, Wednesday."

"Yes. I'm looking forward to officially meeting you, Veronica. Have a good day."

"Yeah, you too," she said before hanging up and looking at Logan. "Two days, and then all my ties to the government will be cut. I hope you're really serious about staying on the run with me."

Logan bent down to kiss her. "I'd rather run with someone I love than be stuck in a life where no one knows me enough to love me," he repeated her words back to her.

"Everyone knows you in Neptune," Veronica argued, her insecurities about this arrangement evident in her voice.

"But you're the only one that understands."

"Understands what?"

"Me."

* * *

On the drive to Portland, Veronica used Logan's phone to place her overdue call to Weevil. He answered exactly as she would expect him to answer a call from Logan. "Assface! How goes your search for our girl?"

Veronica smiled. "Hey, Weevil."

"V? Christ, girl, took you long enough to call. Four days late. I thought you were dead."

"Nope. Narrowly escaped death once again. But I'm sure you can understand why I was a little too distracted to call," she said.

"Why? Wait..." It then occurred to him exactly which number she was calling from. "Oh, so he finally found you. At least that means he'll stop his goddamn whining. I swear, V, a man goes out for a drink, he does not want his friend's ex crying on his shoulder about the one that got away. Leather and Echolls tears do not bond well."

"Crying, huh?" she asked with a sideways glance to Logan, a smirk crossing her lips.

Logan, for his part, faked outrage. "I never cried! I am far too manly for that."

Weevil heard him over the phone and let out a laugh. "I'm telling you, V, he cried like a little bitch. I always suspected you cut his balls off, but if I ever needed proof, it was right there as soon as he got a few drinks in him."

Veronica giggled. "I didn't cut them off! I like them right where they are."

Though he could only hear one side of it, Logan sensed the turn the conversation had taken. He held his hand out for the phone and Veronica handed it over. "Listen, Weevs. The times I have actually shed tears in my life are few and far between, and I remember every one of them. Having said that, I'm way beyond sure that you were never there to witness one of those occasions. Also, I will have you know that my balls are exactly where they belong, firmly attached to me. And Veronica can vouch for that."

Weevil gagged. "Thank you for that information. But one more mention of the two of you doing the nasty and I'm going to heave. Now would you kindly give the phone back to the brains of the operation, Echolls?"

Logan handed the phone back to Veronica. "Sorry about that," she said. "But you know how he is when you underestimate the size of his _cojones._"

With a snort, Weevil asked, "He told you about that?"

"Yes, he did. Anyway, back to business. You got anything new for me?"

"Glad to finally say that I do. I might have found something, or some_one,_ who is willing to help us with that little pet project of ours."

By 'little pet project,' Veronica knew Weevil was talking about taking down the Fitzpatricks. Her heart pounded in her chest with excitement. Finally, a breakthrough. But, hearing the noise in the background, she could tell he was in a public place, so he couldn't exactly speak freely. They could never know who was listening. Weevil regularly checked his phone for bugs, but being out in the open exposed the conversation to anyone within hearing range, so they had to keep it general. But she couldn't help asking. "Oh my god. Who?"

"Can't say yet. Prying ears and all. And the help isn't anywhere close to guaranteed. But I promise to tell you later, as soon as I know more and I know no one's listening."

"Alright." Veronica was bursting with curiosity, but she wouldn't risk blowing it all because she couldn't wait. "I'll call you in a few days, after I'm officially no longer under government protection."

If Weevil had anything to say about that, he was kind enough to keep his opinion to himself. "Just be careful, V."

"You too. And don't you _dare_ do anything stupid because of me," she told him, her affection for the reformed gang leader clearly showing for the first time in the conversation. She wouldn't have bothered saying that if he hadn't already. A few months before, Weevil had gotten very drunk and, apparently, very sick of his most loyal, though most suspicious, friend being unavailable to him. So he had stormed directly into the River Styx and demanded the patrons to 'take me to your leader.' Veronica still shuddered to think what could have happened had any of the higher ups been there. As it was, there were only drunk lackeys, who clearly didn't know who Weevil was, so they were content to just throw him out. Still, when he recounted the experience for her, she was shaken. Months later, the feeling hadn't left her. "Seriously, Weevil. Never again."

Hearing her concern for him, Weevil was once again reminded of why he had made sure to keep the pesky blond in his life. "Yeah, yeah. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Could you talk to Wallace and Mac and fill them in? I know they'll just worry, but they'll never forgive me if information like this doesn't find its way to them."

"You got it, V. I'll talk to you in a couple days, alright?"

"Alright. Later."

"Later."

Veronica hung up and looked at Logan. "Weevil's got a little hope for us. Someone who might be able to bring down the Fitzpatricks. But that's all he could say for now." She smiled. "But still, that's more than I've had so far. We might actually be able to go back someday. Or at least stop running."

Logan reached across the center console to grasp her hand in his. He wondered if she realized that she'd started to say 'we,' in moments when she would have said 'I,' just days before. Now it was about the two of them as a unit, not just Veronica The Island. Before, _she_ had to run, and Logan was along for the ride. Now, _they_ had to run, and hopefully, someday _they_ would be able to stop. "We'll figure it out eventually, Ronnie. If anyone can bring down the Irish mafia, it's you."

She leaned across the seat to place a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks. But you know I'm no good without my friends. So it looks like you're finally going to get your chance to really help out on a case. You know, one that isn't centered around you."

"Hey, I would gladly get accused of murder again if it meant all this would go away. As long as you were by my side, helping to clear me," Logan told her.

Veronica couldn't help but giggle at the strangeness of their relationship. "Aww...you'd get accused of murder for me? That's so sweet."

"Hey, as long as I'm not getting accused of murder _by_ you, I'd count it as a good week." The usual bite wasn't behind his words this time, so she didn't instantly go spiraling into defense mode.

"Never again," Veronica said as she kissed the palm of the hand she'd been holding before letting it go so he could have both of his hands on the wheel.

* * *

After they'd checked into their hotel in Portland, they headed down to the hotel bar to celebrate the hope they felt after the phone call with Weevil. Everything was going fine until Logan decided to order their drinks. He had to show his I.D., and it was just his luck that the bartender was a fan.

"Oh my god! You're Logan Echolls!" the bartender, Rachel, said excitedly. She wasn't exactly being quiet either. "I've seen you a hundred times on the Tinseltown Diaries. I can't believe some people actually thought your dad killed that girl. I was so sorry to hear that he died."

Logan looked at Veronica, his eyes clearly screaming, 'Save me!' but she was a little distracted by looking around, wondering how many people had caught onto Rachel's babbling, and how many were then able to recognize her or deduce her identity...which Rachel was getting around to doing.

"Oh, and you look so familiar too," she said, studying Veronica as if she were a particularly ugly bug on the bottom of her shoe. Five seconds later, and recognition began to dawn on her face. "I was always bad with names...but I wanna say you've got a planet in your name. Neptune, was it? No, that's the town ya'll are from..."

Veronica met Logan's gaze. Now it was her eyes that were screaming. But it was like they were watching a train wreck in slow motion. They knew what was coming, but they couldn't stop it, or even look away.

"Mars! Veronica Mars! Right?"

Veronica and Logan were over the border and into Washington less than an hour later.


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: Still not mine.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finally found an effective way to get inspired. First, look at the hit count on the story you're writing. If it's, say, over 20,000, give yourself a pat on the back and marvel that, given that it was 10 chapters long, if everyone read through it once, that would be 2000 people that read the story. Feel good about self. If that doesn't work, go to Youtube, look up the names of the couple I'm trying to write, and the name of my favorite song. Searching for "Veronica Logan Run" did amazing things (and in case you're wondering, that would be "Run," by Snow Patrol). Anyway, I got really inspired, which explains how this chapter ended up being like six pages long. I hope you enjoy it!

DEDICATION: To my wonderful friend Kelly, and to all the fanvidders of the universe, particularly the ones that use "Run" to make videos for my favorite couples. And to my readers

Witness Protection

Chapter Eleven

"Okay, so I guess it's pretty clear that I need a fake I.D.," Logan said as they sped down the freeway toward Seattle. "Also, looks like we're gonna be a little early to Wednesday's meeting."

Veronica sighed. "Well, you know I make the best fakes on this side of the country. But all my stuff is with my dad." She shook her head. "Now that's a call I'm looking forward to making. Anyway, how would he get it to us? Mail isn't exactly the safest way to go, plus that would require giving him an address, and that's even less safe. And they're watching all of my friends. Except Weevil, and he's busy."

Logan bit his bottom lip, then said, "I'm willing to bet they're not watching all of _my_ friends."

Closing her eyes and leaning her head against the headrest, she said, "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to love this?"

"He said to call him if there's anything he can do. He may be an idiot, Ronnie, but he means well. Or at least, he has for the last few years. Since..."

"Yeah," Veronica said, cutting him off. She knew exactly when Dick had become a somewhat decent human being, and the last thing in the world she wanted to do was rehash it. "I'm just...I hold grudges, you know that. And I have good reason to, with him."

"I know," Logan said. "But, of all the people in our lives, he's the one that's least likely to be watched. And he'll get the job done."

"Fine. I'll call Dad tomorrow and he can make the I.D., and give us somewhere that we can pick it up. Also, I think it's time we both invested in hats and sunglasses. Maybe even hair dye for me."

"Hair dye?" Logan asked skeptically.

"I know you have a thing for blonds, but..."

"I have a pattern with blonds," he said, cutting her off. "Doesn't mean I have a preference."

"Every girl I've ever seen you with, including me, has been blond," she argued. _Except for Kendall,_ she thought, but didn't say it. Thoughts of that particular brunette never led to anything good.

"That's because it's tough to find a sane redhead," Logan replied easily. "Though I should mention, if you dye your hair red, we'll never leave the hotel room ever again."

Veronica rolled her eyes and fingered her blond locks. "Yes, because if I really want to not stand out, I should dye my hair red."

"Just a suggestion," he shrugged.

Veronica's hair color stayed the same.

* * *

On their way into Seattle, they stopped at a 7-11 to get plain black baseball caps and sunglasses, along with the minor sustenance of day-old doughnuts and slurpees, and to fill up their gas tank. The clerk looked at them oddly; three o'clock in the morning wasn't a particularly sunny time of day, nor was Seattle the sunniest city. But he didn't say anything.

They checked into the first lodgings they came to, a family-owned inn on the outskirts of the city. The guy at the front desk had fallen asleep at his post, but he woke up enough to check them in and give them their keys.

"What is it with you and quaint little buildings that barely pass for hotels?" Logan asked as he dropped his bag on the floor. He yawned. Usually, they were settled for the night and long past unconscious by this hour. However, their encounter with Rachel The Dumbass Bartender meant that they needed to get out of town, and quickly. It was much better to be tired than dead.

"I promise, next time we can get one of your high-tech space hotels with every amenity provided," Veronica said. "But I sort of like the homey feel, you know?"

Logan knew. She'd grown up in a house that, while much smaller than his, felt like home, with at least one parent who treated her like she should be treated. He'd grown up in a house that felt like a hotel, even at the best of times. At least that explained why he never felt uncomfortable living in the Grande. "Fine. But if we ever find our way to Vegas, I'm choosing the hotel."

She smiled and kissed him. "Fair enough. So long as we avoid Circus Circus."

"Yeah, I know." He chuckled. "Clown fear." He took out his phone and quickly sent a text message to Dick, ignoring what hour it was. Dick could sleep through an atomic bombing. His message was simple. 'Need your help. Pack a bag. Will call in the morning.' After sending it, he plugged his phone into the wall and pulled his shirt off.

Veronica followed suit, quickly changing into her pajamas. "Hey, I have the best news ever," she told him with a smile.

"What's that?" he asked.

"We get to sleep in tomorrow. We get to spend a whole day not traveling. Neat, huh?"

Logan climbed into bed and held the covers up so that she could get in next to him. "It's absolutely fabulous, darling."

Veronica slipped under the covers and snuggled up as close to Logan as she could get. "Mm...you smell good," she muttered, already falling asleep.

He smiled. "You warm enough?" he asked, rubbing her arm gently.

She got even closer to him. "Yeah. Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

The sound of Logan's phone ringing woke them up. He got out of bed to go get it and Veronica, still mostly asleep, grabbed his pillow and hugged it to herself, burrowing her head into it to block out the light. Grinning about how adorable she could be, he headed into the bathroom to answer the phone.

It was Dick. "Hey dude," he said.

"Hey," Logan replied, stifling a yawn.

"I woke you up? Dude, it's like one in the afternoon. Shouldn't you and Ronnie already be on the road to elsewhere?"

"We got to one of our destinations early. We have to be here tomorrow to meet with the guy from Witness Protection."

"Man, please tell me you're not going in there with her. There's gotta be a better way to disappear."

"I'm not going into Witness Protection," Logan said. "We're getting Veronica out of it."

"Great. But she can't come back here yet, can she?" Dick asked.

"No, we can't. We're going on the run until we can find some way to take down the Fitzpatricks."

"Bummer, dude. What did you need me for?"

"I need a fake I.D. The good kind. The Veronica kind. Her dad has all her stuff. Mail's not even remotely secure because he'd need to write an address on it. So I'd like you to take a road trip to see us somewhere, bringing a fake I.D. for me. And, now that I think of it, copies of everything Keith has on the Fitzpatricks."

"Road trip?" Dick asked. "Why can't I fly?"

Dick didn't sound thrilled. Logan couldn't blame him. "Because when you fly, your name and your destination goes into a computer. And as much as we're sure that they're not watching you, we still want to be careful. They do have a private investigator in their side. And as much as he may be an asshole, he's good at what he does."

"Okay. When do you want me to leave? And when should I pick up all that stuff from Ronnie's dad?"

"We don't know yet. Haven't talked to him about all this. You want me to call you back after Veronica's woken up and we've called him?"

"Yeah, dude, that works for me. I'll start packing. Oh, and Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Just how closely are they watching everybody else? You think at least one of them might be able to slip away? Because, frankly, a long road trip goes a lot faster, and is a hell of a lot less likely to end in a fiery crash, if I've got someone with me. And you and I both know we can't trust our people. Which just leaves her people."

Logan nodded. "Okay, I'll talk to Veronica, see what we can do about getting someone with you."

"Oh, and please not Parker. That woman hates me."

He snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure my _fianc__é_ would absolutely love nothing more than to have my ex-girlfriend come to see us. Anyway, Veronica hasn't been overly fond of Parker for quite a while."

"Fiancé?" Dick asked. "Dude, that's a new development. Congratulations, I guess?"

"Yeah, I can see how high your opinion of marriage is. Anyway, if we ever get to have a wedding that's even sort of normal, you know you're gonna be my best man, right?"

In earlier years, Dick may have whined 'Do I have to?' This time, however, he simply said, "Looking forward to it, dude. Anyway, give me a call when you know stuff. I'll get to packing up my crap now."

"Yeah, thanks, dude."

"Man, anything to get you and the Ronster back to Neptune."

"Alright, I'll call you later."

"Later, dude."

After hanging up with Dick, Logan went back out to see how awake Veronica was. She still had her head burrowed into his pillow, but she was awake. She just really didn't want to get out of bed. Normally, he'd humor her, but he'd rather she called her dad than having to do it himself. As much as he respected the man and his loaded shotgun, it was usually better if the two of them didn't talk.

He let her try to sleep for a few more minutes as he tried to make coffee with the in-room coffee machine. He wasn't quite sure how he managed to burn it, but the smell managed to get Veronica out of bed.

"You know," she said sleepily, "if you wanted me to get out of bed, you could have just shaken me. There was no need to ruin perfectly good coffee."

"See, I try to do something nice, and you throw it back in my face," Logan teased as he handed her his cell phone. "Dick's in." He thought about that phrase, then added, "On bringing an I.D. for me from your dad. I also told him to get copies of everything he has on the Fitzpatricks. But you have to call your dad and get him to make that stuff. Oh, and Dick wants a travel buddy for the trip. Our friends are out...so if you could get one of your friends away without the Irish mafia noticing, that'd be great."

Veronica nodded and dialed her dad's number. When he picked up, she skipped the hello and went straight into the innocent daughter act. "So, while I am completely and utterly out of the business of making fake I.D.s, which you must know, since you have all my equipment, Logan needs one. Think you can figure out how to make them as well as I do?"

Keith chuckled. "You two are 23 now. Why does he need a fake I.D.? Also, hello, sweetie."

"Hey, Dad. And you know, you wouldn't think so, but Logan Echolls is a name that people know. So he shows his I.D., and suddenly we're the center of attention. And because of the wonders of Tinseltown Diaries, it's not such a leap from Logan Echolls to Veronica Mars."

"All right. I could have one ready by tonight. How am I supposed to get it to you?" Keith asked, sitting at the computer so he could look up a photo of Logan to use. He was sure the young man had plenty of mug shots that would work nicely.

"The delivery system of Dick," Veronica replied. "Also, can we get copies of all your files on our very favorite family of Neptune?"

"I'm not sure if there's room in Dick's car," Keith said, "but your wish is my command, daughter of mine. Tell him he can swing by the station tonight and pick everything up. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Dick was wondering if we can get one of my people to go with him. Who are they watching the least?"

"I believe that would be your hacker friend. They're not nearly as organized as they used to be. They manage to watch Wallace pretty effectively, and they peek in on me from time to time. They were practically glued to Logan when he was here. But they've really started slacking on her."

"Great, thanks."

"You're welcome. Oh, and honey?"

"Yeah?"

"You should pay a visit to your aunt Helen."

"Thanks, Dad. That's a great idea. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetie."

Veronica hung up and sighed. "Do you think Dick would be more likely to die from a few days in a car alone, or from a few days in a car with Mac?" she asked Logan.

He laughed. "Well, the ride with Mac would be shorter because they could both drive..."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll call her after we've eaten something. Want to go check out that diner we have to go to tomorrow?"

"Sure."

* * *

Within an hour, they were both showered and dressed (a process that was both helped and hindered by showering together). On their way out of the inn, they were stopped by the desk clerk. He was not the same one as the night before.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry. You're Miss Belmont, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Veronica said, glancing at Logan.

"Oh, I'm sorry, the clerk last night forgot to ask you to sign in to our guest registry." He led her back over to the desk. "We know it's an outdated tradition, but my parents like to keep it going in case anyone interesting drops in; they want proof. You know John Wayne stayed here once?"

Veronica smiled and picked up a pen. "Oh, it's no problem. I think it's neat that you guys keep up the old..."

Suddenly, Logan felt a crushing grip on his wrist, coming from the hand of the tiny blond at his side. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She was staring at the registry. He read it over her shoulder, and then he started to notice a pattern. Cyril Murphy. Ryan Kelly. Timothy O'Brien. Conan McCarthy. And eight other very Irish names, and at the bottom of the list, Danny Boyd.

"They're here," Veronica said.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine.

**Author's Note:** God, the inspiration just keeps pouring out of me! Anyway, this chapter's got a lot of conversation and a lot of time on the phone, so I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but it had to be written, and to make it longer, and therefore not mostly them on the phone, would have meant that you wouldn't see it until next week, since my house is getting tented this weekend, so I won't be anywhere near my computer. Still, I do hope you enjoy it.

**Dedication:** As always, to the wonderful and inspirational Kelly, and to my readers and reviewers.

Witness Protection 12

"I'm sorry, Miss, but...who's here?" the clerk asked.

Logan struggled to cover Veronica's panic. "Some of the guests for our wedding. Old fashioned folks, not overly fond of the premarital sex, so we've been sort of avoiding them until after the ceremony. But, damn the luck, they ended up checked into the same hotel as us."

"Yeah," Veronica smiled nervously and signed the registry the way her dad signed receipts. Basically a squiggly line that he would swear was his signature if it ever came down to it. She released her death grip on his wrist and he took her hand in his. "Guess we should probably get out of here before we run into any of them. Can we check out now and just drop our keys off after we pack?"

"We don't usually allow that, but for the happy couple, I think we can make an exception." He started typing into his computer. "And how will we be paying for that today?"

"Cash," Veronica said, pulling out her wallet. "There's a nice tip in it for you if you promise not to tell anyone we were here. They figure out we shared a hotel room, they'll hit the ceiling." She seemed to have gotten herself under control again. She knew she needed a cool head to get out of this alive.

"Of course, Miss Belmont. That'll be 109.56," the clerk said.

Veronica pulled out two one-hundred dollar bills and looked at Logan. He nodded. She handed the bills over. "Keep the change. We'll drop our keys on the way out."

"Thank you, Miss Belmont. Congratulations, you two."

Pasting a smile on her face, Veronica replied, "Thank you. Come on, honey."

To the casual observer, they probably looked like a happy, carefree couple. But Logan could feel the bones of his hand grinding together under Veronica's grip.

They were almost back to their room when Logan heard footsteps. Suddenly, Veronica found herself in an empty room with him, having been picked up and moved there. Before she could object, Logan had moved the door back to it's previous position of being open just a crack, and she had her back against the wall behind that door, with him pressed up against her, his hand lightly pressed over her mouth.

That was when she heard the footsteps and thanked her lucky stars that Logan's hearing was better than hers. And that the maid had wandered off, probably for fresh towels or something. And that the hotel had hardwood floors, which amplified the sound of the footsteps. She strained her ears to pick up what she could of the conversation.

"...says the bitch should be getting into town tonight or tomorrow at the latest. We'll probably end up taking out both her and her rich boyfriend tomorrow night."

"Yeah, Liam will be real proud."

"Screw Liam. If he wasn't so careless, we wouldn't have spent the last year and a half trying to find her. Don't get me wrong; the man had a great head for business. But he was a loose cannon at best."

"If you're not doing this for Liam, why are you?"

"Because Danny's an idiot, but he's got the rest of the guys behind him. Last thing I need is to get my ass kicked defending that little girl, even if she's not worth half the trouble we've gone through finding her. And he's doing it for Liam. He hasn't gotten it yet, that Liam's not in charge anymore. He's still afraid of that bastard and..."

The voices faded out and the footsteps went a minute later. Logan took his hand off of her mouth and they both took deep breaths. "Come on," he said quietly. "We need to get out of here."

"Yeah," she agreed, her heart pounding in her chest after their near-death experience.

"What are you two doing in here?"

Veronica whipped her head around to see the maid, who apparently hadn't been elsewhere, but had been cleaning the restroom. She had an Irish accent.

"Sorry, wrong room," Logan said quickly, pulling Veronica out and returning the door to it's position again.

They rushed to their room and threw everything into the bags as quickly as possible. As they packed, Veronica said, "She had an accent. Why the hell is everyone in this place Irish?"

Logan picked up some of the hotel stationary off of the desk and tossed it to her. As she read it, he said the name out loud. "Paddy's Inn. It was dark when we got in last night, and we were tired. The sign wasn't lit up like it should have been. All we saw was 'Vacancy' and the possibility of a bed for the night. And of course they'd go to the hotel run by their fellow Irishmen. We weren't being careful. But we're lucky we came here and found out in time."

"God, what are they doing here? How did they find out?" she wondered aloud as she stuffed her laptop into its carrying case.

"We'll figure it out on the road," Logan replied, zipping up his bag. "You ready?"

She hoisted her bags onto her shoulders. "Yeah, let's go.

* * *

Through a mixture of luck and the front desk clerk deliberately keeping their 'family members' distracted as they walked out, Veronica and Logan made it safely to the car and out of Seattle.

"Where are we headed next?" Logan asked, gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

"Montana," she said.

"_Montana?_ Why?" He knew they weren't about to head south again, and to the West, they were going to run into the ocean a lot sooner than they'd like, but he'd almost figured they'd head to Canada instead of to the East.

"Because my dad told us to," she said simply.

"Seriously?" he asked, glancing at her, then back to the road.

"He said we should go see my aunt Helen."

"And she lives in Montana?" Logan was struggling to figure out why_anyone,_ much less anyone related to Veronica Mars, would want to live so far from civilization.

"No. I don't have an aunt Helen," Veronica replied.

"So...who are we going to see?"

"One of my dad's best friends from high school. He was like an uncle to me when I was a kid. Until he moved to Helena, Montana. But we still keep in touch." She looked out the window, watching the world tumble by at 70 miles per hour. "He's one of the good guys, Logan. It's a safe place for us to meet up with Dick and Mac, maybe even stay for a couple of days."

"But isn't your dad not supposed to know where you are?" Logan asked.

"That was their rule, not mine. No contact. Anyway, I figure he should be safe knowing where I am, so long as they don't know he knows. Anyway, I should call Agent Michaels, let him know we won't be making the meeting. Can I use your phone?"

He handed it to her, then it clicked. "Don't," he said, just as she was about to push the button to call him.

"What? Logan, why?"

"Don't you see it, Ronnie? It's him."

She stared at him. "No. It can't be."

"No one else knows where we are. It has to be," he argued.

She shook her head. "There has to be someone else..."

"What, you think Dick told them?" He hadn't told Dick where they were, so it was a moot point anyway, but it served to illustrate what he was trying to get across.

Veronica_didn't_ think Dick told them. No matter how she felt about him, Dick was nothing if not disturbingly loyal to Logan. "But my dad said he was clean," she said, clinging to the belief that the law would not betray her, so long as it didn't wear the face of Don Lamb.

"So was Aaron," Logan said very quietly. "So was Cassidy. Both of them, squeaky clean. All that means for our agent friend is that he hasn't been caught."

She leaned forward, putting her head in her hands. "Great. Now we actually _are_ running from both the Fitzpatricks and the government."

"Hey," he said, reaching across the center console to take her hand in his. "We're okay. We got lucky. Whatever comes, we'll deal with it, okay?"

She nodded. "I guess I should call Mac, tell her we've sold her into slavery for a few days."

Logan rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "He's not _that_ bad."

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, dialing Mac's number from memory. When her friend picked up, she said, "Check your phone for a bug like I taught you, then call me back." Then she hung up.

A minute later, the phone rang "Bug free!" she said brightly. "How's your new life treating you?"

"Oh, it was _fantastic..._normal, boring, unfulfilling, 'til Logan showed up at my door with a tracer on his car and my favorite Witness Protection agent decided to sell us out to the Fitzpatricks. Now we're on the run. But other than that, it's great. How are you?"

"Flabbergasted," Mac replied. "But before that, I was doing well enough. Anything I can do to help?"

Veronica had the feeling that Mac had hacking in mind. "Actually, there is..."

"Why do you sound like you'd rather be eating a pound of raw squid than asking me a favor?" Mac asked, nervousness beginning to settle in the pit of her stomach.

"Dick needs a travel buddy," she blurted out. "He's bringing us a bunch of stuff, and he needs someone to split driving with so he doesn't kill himself. Please don't hurt me."

Mac sighed. "Where are we driving?"

"Montana," Veronica replied in a very small voice.

"You owe me so big. When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible. Preferably tonight."

"Seriously, this is like, first-born child kind of owing me. Dick knows he's paying for everything, right?"

"Given the golden parachute Dick will spend the rest of his life flying around in, I don't think he'll have a problem with that. But still, I'll let you negotiate it. Do you need his number?"

"No, I have it. He's drunk dialed me enough times for me to have it saved on my phone."

Veronica was surprised, but she let it pass. "Okay, in that case, you should call him and let him know that you're his new babysitter. And you should also tell him that my dad will have the stuff ready tonight, and that he should swing by the station to pick it up, along with the address of where you're going."

She could hear Mac scribbling down some notes of what she was saying. "Yeah, no problem."

"Oh, and Mac?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't use Mapquest. Buy a Thomas Guide or something. Don't get directions online." The phone beeped. Veronica glanced at the screen. "We've got another call. Um, give us a call when you're on the road, okay? And don't kill the boy, please. Last thing I need is Logan to be all depressed because one of my best friends killed one of his."

"Alrighty. And we'll be talking about the fate of your first-born later. Bye."

"Bye." She handed Logan the phone. "Call waiting."

He clicked over. "Hello?"

"What, you don't have a secretary to answer your calls, Echolls?"

"Couldn't find a decent one willing to travel," Logan snarked. "Anyway, we need the back seat for our luggage."

"That's a real pity," Weevil said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "One such as yourself should have people waiting on him hand and foot for all eternity."

"You know, that's what I've been saying, but it would just be such a pain in the ass to buy a tour bus for them to follow us in. Anyway, as much fun as this little chat has been, I assume you're calling for the pesky blond one?"

"Yeah, gimme V."

"Veronica, darling," Logan said, "the pool boy would like a word with you."

Veronica snorted and grabbed the phone. "Hey, Weevil, what's up?"

"Finally got some time alone, figured you were just dying to know who's gonna be helping us."

Veronica smiled. "The curiosity has only been gnawing at my brain like a starved rat. Do tell."

"You're not gonna believe this. It's Molly Fitzpatrick."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Still not mine

Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter isn't up to par with the rest of my writing. I'm writing from my friend's computer, since I can't go home due to the termite tenting, so it's a miracle there's a chapter at all, and I'm just hoping that the lack of spell check and the foreign computer hasn't affected my writing in a negative way. Anyway, enjoy!

Author's Note 2: Huge points to anyone who can name the book that I got the names Harvey and Lulu from. If it helps, the last name of Bombeck is from another book by the same author.

Dedication: To Kelly, and to all my readers, and especially to my reviewers. You're the best people ever, seriously.

Witness Protection 13

When she heard the knock at her door, just after five in the afternoon, Mac had to close her eyes, practice her deep breathing, and steel herself for the days ahead. It would be hard, spending days in a confined space with Dick Casablancas, even if the memory of Cassidy _didn't_ still haunt her, five years after the fact.

Another knock startled her out of her reverie. She shook her head and went to open the door.

"Hey, Macaroni!" Dick exclaimed, doofy grin firmly in place.

Mac rolled her eyes and slammed her CD case into his chest. He grabbed it as she picked up her suitcase. "If I'm behind the wheel, music is my choice. If you're behind the wheel, I get the right to veto if I hate it."

Dick chuckled. "I won't play Kanye West if you won't play Ani DiFranco."

"Fine. Also, no country, no rap," she said simply.

"Agreed."

Mac almost added, 'And Cassidy is not a subject,' but something made the words stick in her throat. And now that the music issue was out of the way, she was left with an interesting choice: be nice and try to keep the ride pleasant, or be as bitchy as she wanted to be.

"Can I carry your suitcase for you? It looks heavy."

With a sigh, she handed over her bag, though she kept her laptop case on her. "Thanks, Dick."

Apparently, she was going with nice.

* * *

"Molly Fitzpatrick?" Veronica repeated blankly.

"Molly Fitzpatrick?!" Logan yelled. "Are you _kidding?_ How the hell did we get her on our side?"

She was fairly sure she could hear Weevil grinding his teeth. "Tell Echolls that he can be damn sure it was nothing he ever did. Anyway, Molly's still pissed about Felix, and that makes two of us. She wasn't too broken up to see old Liam in prison, and she appreciates that it was you who put him there, V. Add that to the unusually hard time they've been having with the law since you left, and she thinks she might be able to get the price off your head."

"Dad's making life harder for them, huh?" Veronica asked.

"At least one raid a week on every business associated with the Fitzpatrick name. More, during a slow week. Nearly every member of the Fitzpatrick clan has been arrested and held while the cops try to find something to charge them with, and three of them have joined Liam in prison. It's costing them more to keep you away from Neptune than most think it's worth."

"So Molly's looking to take over?"

Logan looked worried. "So if this works, we won't really be eradicating the crime, so much as working with it?"

Veronica repeated his question to Weevil. "There's always gonna be crime, V. You can't take down the Fitzpatricks, not really. There's too damn many of them, and you know that if you somehow do manage it, someone worse will take their place. If you get Molly behind the wheel, you've got a chance of them sticking to petty crime instead of felonies."

She sighed. She'd long ago realized that the world wasn't black and white, but she hated the idea of working with the criminal element. But then, she never had a problem working with Weevil, even when he was the leader of the PCHers. "Alright, if you talk to Molly, let her know we're behind her all the way. And thank her for us. But make sure she knows that, whether we're working with her or not, Agent Michaels is going down."

"Understood. Just try to stay alive while we deal with this, alright?"

"Yeah, you too. Later, Weevil."

"Later."

After she'd hung up, she looked at Logan. "Am I compromising too much?"

"Molly's not a bad person, Veronica. This may be the best compromise you've ever made. You get your life back, and your dad stops arresting them for bullshit reasons." Logan shook his head. "On another note, you do know that we can't actually stay in another hotel until I get my fake I.D., right?"

"I hadn't thought about that. But you're right, now that we know they know about Emily Belmont. Unless there's a place that doesn't demand a name and valid I.D.," she said, thinking of the Camelot, the motel that had started this wild ride she and Logan had been on for years. "Otherwise, we'll be driving straight to Montana or sleeping in the car."

"How long a drive is it?" he asked.

She pulled out a map and studied it for a few minutes. "If we take the I-90 all the way, it should be about eight or nine hours, judging by the distance. We can just drive it straight through, switch off halfway. I should call Harvey, let him know we're coming."

Logan snorted. "His name is Harvey?"

Veronica smiled. "If you think that name is funny, I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that his wife's name is Lulu," she said as she started to dial.

* * *

An hour into the drive, Mac was surprised to find that she didn't feel the slightest urge to kill her companion. For music, they'd settled on Jimmy Eat World, one of the few bands, along with Green Day and Queen, that they agreed on. And, while Dick's driving did make her fear for her life a little, she was getting used to it.

"So, you excited to see Ronnie?" Dick asked.

"You know she hates being called that, right?"

"She lets Logan call her that."

"Yeah, but only very occasionally. Also, I think she'd let Logan call her a hundred names based on pastries, if he asked nicely enough." Mac chuckled. "Logan also gets to compensate her in ways that I'm sure he'd castrate you for trying."

Dick laughed. "Fair enough. I'll try to find another nickname."

"You could just call her Veronica."

"And I _could_ just call you Cindy."

With yet another roll of her eyes, she said, "A lot of people call her V. Other than that, most nicknames you might come up with for her risk all of your parts, but I'll let you decide."

"You mind Macaroni?" Dick asked, genuinely curious.

"Not really. I prefer Mac Attack, or just Mac, but as far as nicknames go, I guess you could have come up with worse." _And it's definitely better than Ghost World._

"Yeah, but those are other people's nicknames for you. This one's all mine."

Somehow, that made Mac mind it less.

* * *

The drive to Montana flew by for Logan and Veronica, and they got into town a little after eleven, thanks to the time difference. Since they knew they were coming, Harvey and Lulu were still up when they got there.

When she rang the doorbell, the door was wrenched open a few seconds later by a man who was at least a head taller than Logan, with one of the friendliest faces he'd ever seen. In fact, Logan wouldn't have been surprised if the man dressed up as Santa Claus and worked the mall circuit during Christmas.

"My, my, that couldn't possibly be little Veronica!" the man said, a large grin on his face. "And hardly an inch taller than ten years ago!"

Veronica faked indignation and argued, "Hey, I've grown at least six inches since then!"

The man laughed and wrapped Veronica in a bear hug, which almost completely obscured her from Logan's sight. When they parted, he looked Logan up and down and said, "And who's this strapping fellow?"

"This would be my fiancé, Logan Echolls. Logan, this is Harvey Bombeck."

Logan stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

Harvey shook his hand firmly. "None of that 'sir' crap. My name's Harvey, and I like it enough to go by it. And when you meet the missus, if you call her 'ma'am,' she'll probably hit you in the head with her handbag. Makes her feel old."

He nodded. He already liked this guy. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Harvey."

"Come on in out of the cold now. I assume I won't be telling your pop about you two sharing a room?" Harvey asked.

"That would be appreciated," Veronica said. "He probably knows, but there's really no need to piss him off even more."

They made their way to the kitchen, where Harvey's wife was making hot chocolate. At the sound of their footsteps, she looked up and caught a glimpse of Veronica. "Veronica! How is it you managed to remain so tiny?"

As far as hellos went, Logan seemed to find that one particularly amusing. He could barely stifle his laughter. Veronica glared at him. "Ancient Chinese secret," she said as she hugged Lulu. "Lulu, Logan Echolls. Logan, Lulu Bombeck. It seems like you two are going to get along just fine."

* * *

After her shift behind the wheel, and long before they were ready to admit that they'd have to get a hotel for the night, Mac tilted the passenger seat back, turned on her side to face the door, and promptly fell asleep.

An hour after that, Dick asked quietly, "Mac?"

She was a light sleeper. She woke up, but pretended to still be asleep. People tended to say the most interesting things when they thought no one was listening.

As for Dick, he had no idea that she was awake. Her breathing was still deep and even, and he finally saw an opportunity to say what he had wanted to for years. He'd tried before, but he'd never been brave enough to be sincere, and when he was, he was too drunk for it to mean anything, or to even be sure he'd actually said it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I think what happened…with Cassidy...I think it was my fault. I'll have to live with that forever. But I'm sorry he hurt you, and I'm sorry that I didn't see how much he was hurting. I'm just…sorry."

Mac closed her eyes, and a tear trickled down her cheek. She wished she knew how to respond, but since she didn't, she decided to continue to pretend she was asleep, and deal with it the next day.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**Author's Note: **I've gotten several comments on my knowledge of geography and people wondering where I was writing from, to know these places so well. To answer your questions: my knowledge of geography comes from the joys of Mapquest. And I am from California, originally the Los Angeles area, and now Santa Cruz. And yes, Santa Cruz is the city I had in mind when I was writing the first chapter, where Witness Protection first moved Veronica. Every city I've used, I've either been to (particularly every city I've mentioned in California), or I've seen in a movie or TV show. For example, Seattle was where _Dark Angel_ took place. And all my meager knowledge of Helena comes from the two or three hundred times I've watched _Legends Of The Fall..._which I just watched again today. Moving on, I'm glad everyone is enjoying this so much.

**Author's Note 2:** Last chapter, I issued a challenge to name which author I got the names Harvey, Lulu, and Bombeck from. No one got it, but I do feel I should mention that Harvey and Lulu (not the characters, but the names) are from _The Thief of Always,_ by Clive Barker, my favorite book, which I just read for the 27th time in the 15 years I've had it. The last name of Bombeck comes from Tesla Bombeck, of _The Great and Secret Show,_ also by Clive Barker. Anyway, enjoy!

**Dedication: **As always, to Kelly, and my readers and reviewers.

Witness Protection 14

"Did you have any dinner, dear?" Lulu asked.

"Not really; we just drove straight through from Seattle," Veronica answered. "We sort of had to. Couldn't stay in a hotel and we didn't want to wake you up, so we did the fast food thing a few hours back."

"But we were on the move all day," Logan finished. "Had to get far away from where that agent expected us to be."

Lulu shook her head, clearly angered by the situation Veronica and Logan had been thrown into. "Awful. Let me make you something."

"You don't have to," Veronica protested. "You must be tired, and you're being generous enough..."

"Let her cook," Harvey interrupted. "It's a calming process. Might as well reap the benefits. We can sleep in tomorrow if need be."

"You don't work?" Logan asked.

"We're writers," Lulu answered, pouring them all more hot chocolate. "Children's books. We make our own hours. How does some chicken stir-fry sound?"

"Excellent," Veronica answered, a smile coming to her face.

Logan reached for her hand. "It's been a while since we've gotten a home-cooked meal."

"Awful," Lulu repeated.

"When will those friends of yours be getting here?" Harvey asked.

"Probably tomorrow," Veronica replied.

"And let me apologize in advance for Dick. He's sort of an idiot, but he means well."

Harvey chuckled. "We've all got friends like that, son. But as long as he's helping you, he's good in our book."

Veronica smiled. "And I hope you remember that when he shows up and starts making 'your mom' jokes." With that on her mind, she added, "But don't worry, we'll be out of your hair before long."

"Nonsense," Lulu said. "You're welcome here for as long as you need to stay. You and your friends. Even if they make...inappropriate comments. This isn't exactly a Neptune-sized mansion, but let's not pretend we're not well off. We've got more than enough room."

"Empty nest syndrome," Harvey said. "She misses having the twins in the house since they went off to college. But what she says is true. You'll stay as long as it's safe. No reason for you two to be running all over the damn country. Life's tough enough, right?"

They had been in the house for less than an hour, and already Logan felt more at home than he ever had in the Echolls mansion. He could easily see why Veronica loved these two, and she was right in saying that they would be safe there for a time. Harvey and Lulu would never sell them out. In fact, Lulu reminded him a little of his own mother, of what she might have been like if she hadn't been destroyed by Hollywood and his father.

"Now, tell us more about how you two got together," Lulu said as she cut up vegetables.

Veronica and Logan looked at each other. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Dick had readily agreed to pay for everything, so Mac had no objections when he chose a very nice hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah to spend the night at. Her only stipulation was that the room had to have two beds. Most people would take such things for granted, but with Dick, it was always better to clarify beforehand. 

It took them a while to get settled, the awkwardness of spending a night together for the first time hindering the process significantly. They were being so overly gracious to each other that Mac knew Veronica would be laughing her ass off if she could see it.

"I'm going to take a bath," she said, grabbing her pajamas out of her suitcase. She couldn't help it...the tub was too nice to not take advantage of it. "If you want to use the bathroom, you should do it now."

Dick shook his head. "No, I'm good. Enjoy your bath."

Mac nodded and retreated to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Once she'd started running the water, she sat down on the edge of the tub and buried her head in her hands. Dick had _apologized. _When he didn't think she was listening, which, for some reason, made it mean more. What was bothering her more than anything was that he'd said he blamed himself.

When the tub was full, Mac turned the faucet off and stripped down, then climbed into the hot water. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Did _she_ still blame Dick? She knew there was a time when she had. The first six months after Cassidy's death, she'd been pretty confident that if he'd been an only child, he would have turned out much differently.

But after that, she had more or less come to the decision that Dick wasn't really to blame. Big Dick was. _And what an appropriate nickname,_ she thought. Dick Sr. was responsible for most of the cruelty that had been visited on Cassidy through the years. Even everything Dick did to him, she blamed the elder Dick for, since he was the one who taught him how to torture his little brother.

Of course, she also assigned a large amount of blame to Woody Goodman. It had been years, and Mac was still sure that, had Cassidy not blown the bastard up, she would have killed him herself. The amount of lives that man had ruined was mind-boggling.

So no, she didn't blame Dick, not anymore.

But how was she supposed to tell _him_ that?

* * *

After their dinner, Logan and Veronica retired to the bedroom the Bombecks had made up for them, promising to fill them in on their history post-Duncan in the morning. When they started to tell their story, both of them had been so sure that rehashing their entire history would be a terrible idea. There was so much pain there, on both sides, that going over it couldn't be good for them. But they'd discovered, somewhere around telling Harvey and Lulu about when Veronica had accused Logan of killing Lilly, that the whole thing was actually helping them. After they'd finished preemptively flinching at all their painful moments, they'd come to find those things didn't hurt anymore. They truly had forgiven each other for their past transgressions. 

"So, what do you think of them?" Veronica asked with a smile. She already knew the answer to her question.

"Can they adopt me?" Logan asked.

She snorted. "You're twenty-three, Logan. I'm not sure if that's legal." She started changing into her pajamas.

"So?" He took off his shirt and draped it over a chair, then changed from his cargo jeans to flannel pants.

She finished changing, then went to kiss him. "Don't worry, once we get married, they'll be practically your family too. So I take it you wouldn't mind staying here for a while?"

"I'm with Harvey," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "As long as we're safe here, I'll be perfectly content to stay put." He chuckled. "It also helps that they were nice enough to give us a room on the other side of the house."

"Lulu's parents were super-repressed," Veronica explained. "So she understands the need for a young couple to be able to be intimate without everyone glaring at them. And without worrying about waking up the people nice enough to open their house to them."

"Good," Logan said, kissing her again. "Then she can be the one to talk to your dad when he shows up with his shotgun."

She laughed. "We're safe here, Logan. From the Fitzpatricks _and_ my dad. He won't come here; he's too afraid of leading everyone else here. And Harvey and Lulu won't tell on us. Besides, he'll have to come to terms with the idea of us having sex eventually. What if we have kids? Is he going to trust in the idea of immaculate conception?"

Logan looked down at caught her eyes with his, brushing her hair out of her eyes. The mood turned serious instantly. "You want kids?"

_Another huge step in our relationship in one night. Impressive,_ he thought. The previous times they'd been together, they'd never talked about kids. As much as they'd loved each other, they hadn't been thinking about the future at the time. It had never really occurred to either of them that they were already with the person they would spend the rest of their lives with, so the idea of children had never come up. Logan was fairly sure that them talking about it now was another sign that they really were in it for the long haul.

Veronica shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. You?"

He matched her shrug. "I don't know. On the one hand, you and I would make _very _adorable babies. But on the other, I've always sort of worried about passing on my faulty genes. Just because it looks like I may have avoided the abusive philandering psycho killer thing doesn't mean I can't pass it on to a kid. Maybe it skips a generation or something."

She sighed and hugged him closer, tucking her head in under his chin. She leaned her head against his chest so she could hear his heartbeat, then finally said, "What Aaron was isn't in you. It wasn't his DNA that made him who he was. He probably learned everything from his father. You knew better. There isn't any part of me that believes that you could do what he did. Not anymore."

He kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, Veronica."

She looked up at him. "You're welcome. Now, ready for bed?"

"And by bed, you mean..."

"Yep."

"_So_ ready for bed."

* * *

About five seconds after Dick turned off the lights so they could go to sleep, Mac decided she should speak up and talk about his apology. "Dick?" 

"Yeah? Did you need the light?"

"No, you can leave it off." This would all be so much easier if she didn't have to see his face, didn't have to worry about him seeing hers. "I heard your...what you said earlier. In the car."

Dick felt himself blush. He didn't need to ask what she was talking about. "Thought you were asleep," he muttered.

"Wanted you to think I was asleep," she replied. "But I just wanted to tell you...I don't blame you. I haven't for a while now. So maybe its time you stopped blaming yourself too."

"Who _do _you blame?" He wasn't quite as stupid as most took him to be. Blame simply _had _to be assigned for everything that had gone on with Cassidy. Unless Mac was a Buddhist monk, she had to have somewhere to direct her anger.

"Your dad," Mac answered honestly. "And Woody. Mostly your dad though. Everything you ever did to him was more or less encouraged by your dad. Any remotely decent parent would have stopped you from bullying him. He not only encouraged you, but participated as well. And I don't think I'll ever be able to stop hating him."

"But you don't hate me?" Dick asked, trying hard to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice.

"No. I don't hate you." She had various conflicting and confusing feelings concerning Dick, but not a single one of them was hatred.

"Good," he said, relieved. "I'm glad." He sighed, wondering if he should share the thought that had come to him when she was in the bath. "Um, not to change the subject but...I don't know if we'll be able to go back to Neptune right away."

"What? Why?" Mac asked. She'd gotten a few days off work, and she could mostly do her job from her laptop, but being away from home for too long didn't appeal to her.

"I'm not sure about it yet, but, uh, if the Fitzpatricks notice we're missing. Or, you anyway. Logan and Ronnie don't think they're watching me. But if they notice you're missing, they'll know you went to see her. And so it won't be safe for you to go back. But that's, you know, only if they notice."

Mac buried her head in her pillow. Why hadn't she thought of that? It obviously hadn't occurred to Veronica either. "Well, then I guess its a good thing we're getting along."

Dick chuckled. "Yeah. Anyway, good night, Mac."

"Night, Dick."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**Author's Note:** Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck around through my long absences. I'm heading back "home" for Spring Break tomorrow, but I promised myself I'd get this chapter out before I left...and look, here it is, 4:15 in the morning, I'm leaving in five hours for a six hour drive, but I got it out there! I hope you guys like it.

**Dedication:** To Kelly, and all of my readers and reviewers.

Witness Protection

Chapter Fifteen

The ringing of Veronica's phone woke them both up. She didn't even have to look at it to know who was calling. There was only one person who'd be calling that number.

"Who the hell is calling at..." Logan looked at the clock. "10:30 in the morning? Well, that's not that bad."

"It's Agent Michaels," Veronica answered.

He was instantly awake. "Don't answer it."

She shook her head. "I have to. I need to know what he knows." Logan nodded, unhappy but understanding. She flipped her phone open and put it to her ear. "Gee, Agent Michaels, unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to make our meeting."

"What? Why?" the agent asked, sounding very much like the most innocent man alive.

"Oh, I think it must be that thing where you sold us out to the Irish mafia. That kind of thing just makes me less anxious to let you know where we are. I'm strange like that."

"Where's your little friend, Veronica?" he asked, all pretense instantly gone. She was glad he wasn't pushing it. "The computer genius, girl-next-door type. Cindy, isn't it? We can't find her; I'm willing to bet she's with you. Is that right?"

Logan saw the way Veronica tensed up. He couldn't hear their conversation, of course, but he knew her well enough to know the agent had to be threatening her friends to get that reaction. He slid his hand over hers, offering her his silent support. A little of the tension drained out of her, though he knew most of it would remain with her until she hung up. At least.

"I've got no clue where she is," Veronica said. Her voice was strong, even though the rest of her was shaking. She just hoped the rogue agent would buy her lie.

"Bull," Michaels replied, shooting her hope down. "You know where she is, and I think she knows where you are. Just because we haven't found her yet doesn't mean we won't. I'm sure Mr. Echolls has told you how fun it was to be interrogated by us. How well do you think her pretty little face will hold up? I think you'll discover, Veronica, that not all of your friends are willing to be tortured for you."

She didn't respond to his threats. The truth was that she was terrified for Mac, and for Harvey and Lulu., and Logan and herself. Even for Dick. But she refused to give him the satisfaction of her fear. "So, how long have you been working for them? Was it before or after you started working for the government?"

"After. I won't say they made me an offer I _couldn't _refuse, but they did make me an offer that was too good to refuse. Then we just needed good old Agent Wilson to have a little accident."

Clearly, the man had no trouble listening to himself talk. But since she knew he wasn't getting a location from the call, she figured it wouldn't hurt to get all the information she could. "What did you do to him?" Plus, she had _liked _her former agent.

"To him? Not a thing. But his wife came down with a sudden case of her brakes being cut. Unfortunately, he had to take a leave of absence to take care of her during her recovery."

"Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid I'll call the cops?"

Agent Michaels laughed. "You're not going to the police, Veronica. In order to do that, you'd have to come out of the woodwork. You'd rather stay safe, and keep that boyfriend of yours safe, than send me to prison. So until old Liam takes the price off of your head, you'll be staying hidden. And we'll be chasing you."

Lulu chose that moment to call up to her room. "Veronica, honey, I made pancakes. Are you two planning on coming down soon?"

Veronica thought quickly. She looked at Logan and squeezed his hand as she yelled back, "We'll be right down, Margie!" Then, acting like she'd made a horrible mistake, she gasped, "Oh, shit!" and hung up.

Logan smirked. "Misdirection?"

"Misdirection," she answered with a nod. "Now they'll be looking for everyone named Margie, if he bought it."

"Good call."

They got out of bed and got dressed before heading downstaires.

"Margie?" Lulu asked as she handed Veronica a plate.

"Misdirection," Logan and Veronica replied together.

* * *

Mac was up before Dick, a fact that didn't surprise her in the slightest. While he snored lightly, she ordered room service for both of them and looked at their maps again to estimate their time of arrival in Montana. Then she went into the bathroom to call.

Logan picked up on the fourth ring. "Kill him yet?"

She smiled. "No. We're actually getting along really well. We talked some stuff out, and he actually might be a good guy, underneath all the 09er tendencies."

"You know he's got a thing for you, right?"

As Mac tried to recover from her shock, she heard Veronica yell, "Dick's got a _what?"_

"I second that," Mac said. "He doesn't have a thing for me. He has a thing for tall shallow model-types with the IQs of cheese mold."

"Well, yeah, them too," Logan admitted. "But you've been in his thoughts for a while now. Just keep it in mind, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered.

"Listen," he said, "I'd love to chat for longer, but I've got a tiny blond grabbing for the phone, like I wouldn't just give it to her if she asked nicely."

"May I have the phone, Logan?"

"What's the magic word, Veronica?"

"Please? Pretty, pretty please?"

"Yes, my dearest," he sighed. "Later, Mac."

"Later," she laughed as Veronica came on the line.

"When are you getting here?" she asked. The excitement was pouring out of her voice.

"Probably about six hours, once we actually get on the road. But who knows when that'll be, since Dick's not even awake yet and I just ordered breakfast for when he does wake up. How are you doing?"

Veronica hesitated. Never a good sign. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"The bad."

"That bastard Witness Protection guy called. They know you're gone, so it probably won't be safe for you to go back to Neptune or, um, use your credit or debit cards, until we've worked this thing out."

Mac was glad that information hadn't really come as a surprise. Since Dick brought it up, the possibility hadn't left her mind. She'd even dreamed about it the night before. "Yeah, Dick thought that might be a risk."

"Dick thought?" Veronica repeated blankly.

She had to resist the urge to jump to Dick's defense. And then she had to marvel at the fact that she wanted to defend him in the first place. _Weird._ "Yeah, he brought it up last night. Anyway, what's the good news?"

"Harvey and Lulu say you guys can stay as long as you need to. We were just making up a couple of rooms for you and Dick when you called. Um, separate rooms. One for you, and one for Dick. Unless you really want to share a room with him. Do you think Logan's right about his 'thing' for you? I'm rambling..."

Mac laughed. "It's alright. I missed your rambling. Thank Harvey and Lulu for us. Separate rooms would be good. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure whether I should take Logan at his word, or start wondering what he's smoking." She heard a crash from the other room and various expletives from her companion. "Oh, sounds like he's up. We'll girl-talk, if we must, when I get there. Look for us in maybe six or seven hours, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Mac hung up and walked back into the main room. She started laughing as soon as she saw Dick. She wasn't sure if he'd simply fallen off the large bed, or had tried to get out, got tangled in the covers, and fell. Either way, the result was the same: Dick Casablancas, heir to millions of dollars, spiteful frat boy and minor high school bully, was trapped by his blankets. And glaring at her for laughing at him. Which, of course, only made her laugh harder. He made a valiant effort to look indignant, but Mac found it cute. _Wait, cute? No, not cute. Endearing. No..._

"Yeah, laugh it up, _Cindy._ I'm glad you're amused."

She quickly snapped a picture with her cell phone. She titled it 'Epic Fail' and saved it before asking, "Need help?"

Dick blushed, but managed to untangle himself and stand up. Mac instantly turned away while he pulled on a pair of pants over the boxers he'd slept in . He grinned at her shyness, unable to help the words that were already on their way out of his mouth. "You know, I usually sleep naked."

Mac blushed this time, deep crimson. "Congratulations. And thanks for being nice enough to sleep in just your underwear last night." She peeked though her fingers at him to make sure he was at least somewhat decent (or as decent as he could possibly be, given that he was, well, _him_), then, seeing him pulling a shirt over his head, she turned to look at him again.

"What can I say? I'm a giver," he replied. "You talk to Ronnie yet?"

"Yeah. That psycho agent called. They know I'm missing. So you were right; I can't go back to Neptune. Also, I ordered breakfast. It should be here in a couple of minutes."

"Cool. I'll just take a quick shower, we'll chow, and then we'll hit the road. You think you can drive though? I'm not much of a morning person."

She nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

"Cool," Dick repeated, wandering into the bathroom.

Mac's mind was in turmoil. She could have killed Logan for sharing his little tidbit at this particular juncture. He couldn't have told her at any moment _except_ the one where she was spending large amounts of time alone with the boy in question?

She sighed. It was going to be a long drive.

* * *

Over breakfast, which was really more like brunch, Logan and Veronica made good on their promise, and finished recounting their history to the Bombecks. Since their curiosity was satisfied, they then turned their thoughts to some of the long term arrangements that needed to be made.

They would have to take care of everything that could be traced to Emily Belmont, since her identity was now known to the Fitzpatricks. Her bank accounts and her car were at the top of their list of priorities. They'd also have to make sure to continue to keep Logan's name from popping up.

However, most of what they planned waited on Logan's new identity, so they couldn't do much more than discuss their options. First, they would have to deal with the bank. They decided that, the next day, Logan and Veronica would drive into Wyoming, go to a bank there, and empty out Emily's accounts. They would then go back to Helena and open a new account under Logan's new name.

After that, Logan and Harvey would drive into Canada and trade Veronica's car in for something else. Veronica made them promise to stay away from 'jackass yellow.'

Finally, Lulu would purchase two new cell phones and keep the accounts under her maiden name, so Logan and Veronica could communicate, with each other and anyone else, without worrying about who was listening.

By the time they'd gotten through discussing all of the logistics, all four were more than ready to bang their heads into the dining room table just to get some relief.

A knock interrupted their conversation. Veronica glanced at the wall clock, surprised to see that four and a half hours had passed since she'd spoken to Mac. But still, that meant they weren't due for another hour and a half, at least. She looked around the table. "You guys expecting anyone?"

Harvey and Lulu shook their heads, and worried looks were shot all around the table. Finally, Harvey got up and headed to the door.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**Author's Note:** I am such a bad person, and I apologize. I could give you a list of excuses, but none of them make up for how horrible I am for leaving you on a cliffhanger as long as I did. I'll just say that real life, and working on a real book, got in my way, and that I'm very, very sorry, and that I still love all of my readers and hope you still love me.

**Dedication: **To Kelly and to my readers and reviewers (especially the reviewers).

Witness Protection

Chapter 16

Veronica had never been one for prayer. She wasn't even sure if she believed in God, particularly after Lilly, much less in the effectiveness of prayer. But at that moment, she was hoping with everything she had for Jehovah's Witnesses on the other side of that door. They'd only just arrived; they weren't nearly ready to withstand a siege. Hell, they had windows – lots of huge picture windows – they couldn't even if they wanted to.

She had four escape strategies worked out in her head by the time she heard Harvey open the door.

"Hi, um, is Veronica Mars, by any chance, you know, here?" a very familiar female voice asked.

"Huh. He doesn't _look_ like Irish mafia to me. Dude, you know where Logan and Ronnie are?"

Veronica bolted out of her seat, ran to the door, and tackled Mac. It was only because Dick was standing behind her that she wasn't knocked to the ground by the tiny blond. Instead, she was knocked into a very hard male chest, with Veronica's arms clenched around her neck, and oxygen was quickly becoming an issue.

Mac ignored that and hugged her friend back. It really had been far too long.

Logan sauntered out, hands in his pockets. He watched the two females for a moment, then cracked a smile at Dick. "You know, Veronica didn't welcome _me _like that. All I got was a quick patching up and a 'What the hell are you doing here, Logan?'"

Veronica reluctantly let of Mac, then looked to Dick. "Hello, Dick!" she said cheerfully.

"Hey, Ronnie," he replied, ignoring her glare and opening up his arms for a hug. She ignored him. He looked at Logan and nodded. "Dude."

Logan nodded back. "Dude."

Harvey checked. "I take it that these two would be Dick and Mac?"

Veronica nodded, her lips forming another huge smile. "Yup. And, guys, this is Harvey Bombeck."

"And my wife, Lulu," he continued as she entered the room, having figured out that imminent death wasn't waiting behind the door.

They chatted for a few minutes before Veronica remembered her previous panic. "How the hell did you guys get here so fast? We weren't expecting you for at least another hour and a half. You scared the crap out of us."

Mac grinned. "Dick let me drive. I broke every speed limit in three states."

"Excited to see me?" the blond asked, nearly bouncing in place.

"I suppose you could interpret it that way. And such an interpretation would not be inaccurate."

"Yeah, she's also the only person I know to get two speeding tickets in the same day," Dick grumbled. "Wish I'd known what I was getting into when I offered to finance the road trip."

Mac turned a radiant smile on him. "Hey, at least I managed to talk that last cop out of ticketing us."

"You probably could have avoided the second ticket as well, if you'd just flashed the cop like I told you to."

"That cop was a woman, Dick."

"Yeah, and she was totally checking you out."

Veronica watched the two arguing back and forth and was shocked to realize she was thinking that Mac and Dick were acting very much like she and Logan used to. She could have slapped herself for the thought, but instead offered to show both of the new arrivals to their rooms.

"Oh, wow, so we're not gonna be sharing a room until you solve the case?" Dick smiled at Mac, causing her to blush a deep red. "Bummer."

Logan looked at Mac. "Told you."

Veronica hit Logan's arm lightly. "Shh. You've meddled enough today, don't you think?"

Dick just followed after them. "Told her what?" he asked, clearly confused.

* * *

Two days later, Veronica stared at the new car Logan had bought to replace hers. "Logan, you..."

"It's not jackass yellow," he replied defensively.

"No, I love it," she assured him. "It's just...surprising. I was expecting something a little less practical and a little more...I don't know, roomy and oddly shaped?"

"Hey, you know the only reason to have a giant car, especially with gas prices the way they are, is to have sex in it. And, since your dad no longer watches every other location in our lives, there's no need for uncomfortable car sex."

She continued to stare at the black Honda Prius. "Agreed. But I'm still shocked that you've gone all...sensible...on me."

Logan feigned hurt. "Well, if you don't like it..."

Veronica pulled him down by his collar to meet his lips. "Sensible can be sexy."

"But I won't make a habit out of it," he murmured against her lips. "Wouldn't wanna destroy my bad boy image."

"Bad boys are sexy too," she said before kissing him again.

"You sure it's not just me you find sexy?"

Veronica chuckled. "Yeah, it's probably just you."

Logan wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Okay, back to business. "We've got a car, one that won't stand out and can't be traced to either of us. And new cell phones, both under Lulu's name, so we can communicate without worrying, in case trouble finds us, or you, as it tends to do. The bank account is under my brand spanking new identity, and your dad must think he's really funny, giving me the most Irish name on the planet."

"Aidan Bard isn't that Irish."

"It's one step away from Cillian O'Rielly. Anyway, my point is, now what?"

"Now we deal with the files that Dick and Mac brought. Maybe if we can connect some dots that the authorities couldn't, we can get enough blackmail to get the price off my head."

"God, I love our life. 'What are you doing today, Logan? Well, I'm trying to find blackmail material against the Irish mafia.' Really, how many people can say their day consists of that?"

"Not many," she admitted.

They went back inside and headed up to their room. Dick had brought his X-Box, along with several games, to amuse himself and Mac, and Veronica was glad. At least it would keep him out of Harvey and Lulu's way. Mac offered her help with the files as well, but she told her to relax and have a little fun first. This case had invaded her entire life, and now Mac's life was being taken over too. The least Veronica could do was give her a few days rest.

An hour later, the tiny detective was flabbergasted. Again. "Logan..."

He looked up from his own files. "I'm guessing you're not all excited about..." he looked back down "...Liam Fitzpatrick's apparent addiction to Extra Polar Ice chewing gum? Because according to this, one of the times he was arrested, he had eight packs on him."

"No...look at this...tell me if you see the same thing I do" She handed him two files, one on Molly Fitzpatrick and the other on her father, Brendan Fitzpatrick.

"What am I looking for?" Logan asked, glancing back and forth between the two files.

"Molly Fitzpatrick was born ten months after her father was tossed into prison. No way that he's actually her dad," Veronica answered.

He looked at the dates again, his eyes scanning over the pages. "Huh. Wonder who her real dad is."

"She's gotta be a real Fitzpatrick," she said, casting a look at the large stack of files on the family. "Liam's not an idiot. Well, he's insane, but he's not an idiot. He knows about this, or he wouldn't be so overprotective as to have someone killed if she wasn't really related to him. So...which Fitzpatrick could it be?"

Logan shrugged. "We've got about a zillion pages worth of info on them. I'm sure something in there will give us a clue."

"Yeah, here's hoping."

A knock came at the door. At Veronica's invite, Mac peeked her head in. "Hey, so my phone might be traceable, so can I use yours to call work and let them know I'll be operating from my laptop for a while?"

Veronica tossed her phone to Mac. "Where do you work, anyway? When I pulled my disappearing act, you were still trying to decide between like five different companies."

Mac bit her lip. "I work for Kane Software."

"_What?"_ Veronica couldn't help but shout. She composed herself and tried to keep her voice as even as possible as she asked, "Why?" She looked at Logan, but given his lack of surprise, it appeared that he'd already known. But she took his apprehensive look and filed it away for later.

"Jake Kane swept in at the last second before I took the job with Apple and offered me nearly twice what they were offering, and a much better job. Instead of starting out getting coffee for people who are programming, I'm doing the programming and having coffee brought to me. And I work directly under him. He told me later that he'd figured out that it was me who'd cracked the Castle files, and instead of getting pissed about it, he decided he, um, how did he put it? Oh yeah, he 'needed to have that caliber of computer genius working _for_ him instead of _against_ him.'" Mac realized she was rambling and let her story sink in with Veronica.

The blond's voice was tight when she asked, "And how is Jake Kane doing?"

"Much better now that Duncan's back," she answered, right before she realized that perhaps she should have kept that quiet.

Veronica whipped her head around to look at Logan, and his defeated expression told her all she needed to know. "You knew," she said. "You knew and you didn't tell me."

"Ronnie..." Logan started.

"Don't," she replied coldly before getting off the bed. She grabbed several files off the top of the pile and then brushed past Mac on her way out of the room. A few moments later, elsewhere in the house, they heard a door slam.

Logan ran his hand through his hair. "Shit."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**Author's Note: **There's a bit of naughty language in this one, so I thought I'd warn you about that. And I am on _fire_ as far as chapter speed goes, and I seriously hope that inspiration keeps striking me, because I feel really good about myself when I'm like, "Hey, look ANOTHER chapter!" Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

**Author's Note 2:** Okay, is being weird, so if you received notification for this twice, I apologize. But I posted it and never received notification, nor notification for any reviews, so I'm worried, and decided to delete and repost, hoping for better luck.

**Dedication: **To Kelly, and my readers and (especially) reviewers.

Witness Protection

Chapter Seventeen

Logan didn't chase after her. He knew she was too angry to listen to him right then anyway, so he decided to give her some time to cool off and talk to her at dinner.

But when the scent of cooking meat drew him down for the meal, she wasn't there. Neither was Mac. Harvey was already sitting down and Lulu was placing the pot roast on the table. Dick was giving him his best death glare, which was really just sort of funny on a face like Dick's.

"What's with the look, man?" Logan asked as he took his seat at the table.

"Dude, you piss off your girlfriend, and then she steals mine to go have girl talk. So why don't you kiss and make up already so I can be amused again?"

"She's not your girlfriend, Dick," he pointed out. "Unless you have some new developments to share."

Harvey ignored that and said, "As Mr. Casablancas so gracefully put it, Veronica and Mac decided not to join us for dinner. They've taken their meal in Mac's room," Harvey told him.

"Yeah, so what'd you do this time?" Dick leaned forward. "Please tell me this has nothing to do with Madison."

Logan shook his head. "No, it's more along the lines of, I didn't tell her that Duncan was back. Now I'm sure she's plotting how fast she can ditch me and go back to the _real _love of her life."

Lulu slammed a dish of peas down on the table so hard the ceramic cracked. "You know, Logan, Veronica and I have had many talks over the years. I do believe your concerns for her affections wavering are unfounded, so my advice to you is to stop doing stupid things before you lose the best thing you have going for you."

"My sparkling wit?"

She glared. "You know perfectly well that I was referring to Veronica, Logan."

"I know," he admitted. "But last I checked, I've always just been a placeholder for Duncan."

"Dude, shut up!" Dick put in, surprising everyone. 'This is not the end of you and Ronnie. You guys are like...I don't know, epic, or something."

Logan smiled a little. "Epic, huh? Why'd you pick that word, Dick?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. It's like in those long and boring movies, you know? All this shit goes down, but in the end, they end up together." He paused, then added, "Uh, or one or both of them ends up dead."

"I called us epic once," he said quietly.

Lulu put her hand over his. "Go talk to her, Logan." He started to get up, but she stilled him again. "After dinner. She was very upset."

He sank down in his chair again. At the thought of an angry Veronica, he conceded, "Good call."

* * *

Veronica and Mac had opted for microwave Top Ramen and Ben & Jerry's instead of pot roast, mostly as a way for Veronica to avoid Logan until she could think his name without wanting to slap him.

Mac handed Veronica the box of tissues before she had the chance to ask. Veronica blew her nose.

"God, Mac, after everything, how can he _still _not trust me? I love him so much and he just doesn't believe me. He thinks I want Duncan. When I was _with_ Duncan, I wanted Logan, but he still thinks I'll just go running." She wiped her eyes. "How can he be so stupid? And why does it still hurt me so much when he is?"

"Because you love him, and you want him to know it," Mac replied. "I can't blame you for being pissed that he's being ridiculous. All this time...he should know better."

Veronica shook her head. "I almost understand why he doesn't. We never talked about it. But I should have told him...Duncan and I never would have worked. I won't say he didn't love me...but he loved the person I was before Lilly died. And she died the day Lilly did. But Logan doesn't understand that."

"Then explain it to him."

She looked down, studying the ring sparkling on her finger. "You're right. I know you are." With a sigh, she added, "I just wish it didn't always have to be so hard."

Mac gave her a little smile. "You and Logan...you guys wouldn't be you if it wasn't hard. But so long as you still think he's worth fighting for, you must be doing something right."

Veronica sniffed. Determined to get herself under control, she changed the subject. "So...what about Dick?"

Her friend straightened. "What about Dick?"

She smiled. "Somehow, I think you know exactly what I'm asking."

"I have a sneaking suspicion that you're asking me if I think Logan's right or if he's crazy."

"Oh, I know that Logan's crazy. And what I was actually asking was if it would matter to you either way."

Mac looked down. "It matters," she answered quietly. "I don't want it to, and I feel really guilty that it does, but it just sort of crept up on me."

"You shouldn't feel guilty. I mean, I am assuming the guilt is somewhat Cassidy-related?" Veronica asked.

With a nod, she replied. "Of course. I mean...I loved him. He was the first boy I loved. And now I'm considering his older brother who was, up until the last few years, one of the most aggravating people we knew. And then there's the guilt I have for still thinking of Cassidy as my first love, I mean, with everything else..."

Veronica cut her off there. "No guilt, Mac. You can't help how you felt about him. And as for Dick's relation to Cassidy...I think Cassidy loved you. I know he was screwed up and traumatized, but I think the part of him that was still able to love...I think that part loved both you and Dick unconditionally. So I don't think he'd have a problem if you could make each other happy. If you guys could pick up the shambles of your lives and build something together."

"Build something together?" Mac asked critically. "It's Dick. You sound like we're about to get married or something. I'm barely wanting to date him, and you're already picking out stationary."

She hit her playfully. "You know what I meant. I'm just saying, last I checked, the best thing that can be said about Dick Casablancas is that he's unfailingly loyal to Logan."

"That's what's attracting me to him, actually. I think it's sort of admirable...no matter what comes along – Logan possibly being a murderer, boning his step-mom _and _his ex – Dick never even thinks about abandoning him. I can respect that. It's what made me first start to see past the fact that he's an idiot."

Veronica smiled. Then her phone rang. It wasn't the new phone.

"What?" Mac asked.

"It's Agent Michaels," Veronica replied. "The guy that sold us out to the Fitzpatricks. He keeps calling me."

"Are you gonna answer it?"

"I can't not." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. "You know you're not getting a location trace from this call, don't you?"

"Of course I know that. I don't think you're stupid, Veronica. I know you'll have covered your bases. I just wanted to tell you about the talk I had with Liam today. After all, you might have come up as a subject once or twice."

"Sure. Why don't you tell me what old Liam said? Did he, by any chance, happen to mention if he was being raped in the ass on a daily basis? Because frankly, that's a topic I'm extremely interested in." The Fitzpatricks scared her. They always had. But she would not be cowed by one of their toadies, especially not one who had a chance to be something better, but gave it all up for a large wad of money.

"Oh, he's doing just fine in prison. Not to happy with you though. But it turns out you're not the first on his list to die anymore. Now, it's your good buddy Logan Echolls."

For a second, Veronica stopped breathing. Now she was scared. As usual, threats to her own life barely phased her, but when it came to her friends, she got worried easily. A psychologist would have said it was because she lost Lilly. She would have considered that obvious. "Logan has nothing to do with this."

"You're right. He doesn't. But since you've decided to drag him along, Liam gave me very specific instructions. He wants Logan killed first, and he wants you to be there." Agent Michaels took a deep breath. "Aren't you excited, Veronica?"

She tried to think of a quip, but the thought of Logan dying because of her seemed to have shut down her higher brain function, so she hung up instead. By the time she met Mac's eyes again, she'd already made up her mind about what to do. "You can't tell Logan he called."

"What? Why? Shouldn't he know?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm getting him away from me. And if he knows the real reason why, he won't go."

"Veronica, you can't..." Mac started.

Veronica cut her off. "I have to. It'll be a lot easier to watch him go and fix it later than it would be to watch him die."

The door opened. "Nice try, Veronica," Logan said, leaning against the doorway.

She paled. "How much did you hear?"

"Was about to knock when I heard that very telling ringtone. Want to tell me how you were going to get rid of me?"

"Logan..."

"Well, you were clearly not going to tell me what the real deal was, because you know that wouldn't drive me away. So were you going to blow this whole Duncan thing way out of proportion and break up with me over it? Or were you just going to try to go super-bitchy and push me away?" He shook his head. "God, Veronica, I came up here to apologize and try to make amends, but now it looks like I'm the one who needs some time away." He turned away from them and started to walk down the hall.

Veronica jumped to her feet and ran after him. "Liam wants me to watch you die, Logan!" He froze, his back still to her, and she continued, "You think I can do that? He wants them to kill you right in front of me! So why is it so terrible that I want you gone if it will protect you?"

"Because we're supposed to be protecting each other! Isn't that the point of a relationship? I know we're not exactly living under normal circumstances, but I'm getting really fucking sick of you taking off every time something gets hard. And it's even less amusing that you decide all these things without talking to me even a little. Like our first real break up? When I was too self-destructive for you? If you'd talked to me instead of deciding beforehand, I could have told you that the reason I fought back so hard was because they almost killed _you._ Not that it would have mattered, since you were already well on your way back to Duncan!"

By this time, their volume had gotten loud enough for Lulu, who was downstairs washing the dishes, to hear echoes of their fight. Mac had finally made the decision to risk getting past them so she could avoid eavesdropping. She gave Veronica a supportive look, then darted down the stairs. Once Lulu caught sight of her, she turned the water off. The two women joined Harvey and Dick in the living room, and Lulu said, "I think it's time we make a trip into town to pick up something."

"What do we need? This place is stocked like a bomb shelter," Dick pointed out.

"We need _stuff," _Mac said as she grabbed his arm and steered him towards the door. Dick went along, confused, until they heard Veronica's outraged "_What?!" _from upstairs. Then he got it.

"Oh! _Stuff!" _And they were gone.

Upstairs, Veronica was seething. She knew what conclusions Logan had drawn when she'd first gotten back together with Duncan, but she'd thought he'd long since gotten over those conclusions and realized they were wrong. Speaking very slowly and evenly, she told him, "I never thought of Duncan as anything more than a friend until weeks after we'd broken up. And in truth, it was only a few months that I thought of him as a boyfriend. Once I found out about Meg, I knew our relationship was over, but, miraculously, we managed to salvage the friendship. Duncan was one of my best friends for most of my life. So you keeping his return from me? Not a good idea."

Logan looked like he wanted to say something, then appeared to change his mind. He went through this process again, then finally said, "He's still in love with you. And you never exactly chose me over Duncan, so I'm sure, if you try really hard, you can understand why I'm still weird about all of this."

She tried to explain it to him the way she'd explained it to Mac. "Duncan is still in love with the sunshine and marshmallows version of Veronica Mars. And that version? She's still, and will always be, in love with him. But guess what? I'm not her, and never will be again. This version?" She gestured to herself. "The version that's flawed and cynical and doesn't flinch at the thought of revenge? She's only ever been for you."

"Even though you have that insatiable urge to push me away. Admit it; if the Fitzpatricks hadn't tracked my car, I'd already be back in Neptune. You would have sent me on my way, if we hadn't had to run. And I've watched you. You've wanted to take off in the middle of the night at least a few times since this started."

"But I didn't, and that's the point! I'm fighting every instinct I have for you, Logan! So I'm so very sorry if them telling me that they'd really like nothing more than the blow your brains out right in front of me skews my perception for a few minutes. Is it really so awful that I thought that a world with you in it, even if you're not with me, would be much better than a world without?"

Logan took a deep breath. He understood her on both issues, but his mind was still screaming at him to fight harder. But he heard a small whisper in his head telling him to compromise. Finally, he asked, "God, why does it always have to be so hard with us?"

She smiled a little. "I was just asking Mac the same thing."

"We okay?"

She nodded, then bridged the gap between them to wrap her arms around him. Laying her head against his chest, she replied, "We're okay."


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**Author's Note:** I'm a horrible person, and I apologize for this taking so long. But at least I didn't leave the last chapter on a cliffhanger! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one. It's a doozy!

**Dedication:** As always, to my friend Kelly, and my readers and reviewers.

Witness Protection

Chapter 18

Saturday morning, Veronica and Logan sat on their bed, legs crossed, facing each other. Their troubles of the previous night weren't exactly forgotten, but they had been forgiven. Neither one would admit how shaken they were that their relationship had been threatened, but neither was surprised that the first real issue that could have torn them apart, they pretty much created.

After a minute, she said, "Alright, I'm ready. Hit me."

He nodded. "He came back four and a half months ago. His dad had been quietly trying to find evidence against the Mannings and then building a case the whole time, I guess. When he finally brought charges against them, all the jurors and judges fell at his feet because he's Jake Kane, and then Duncan was welcomed back like the prodigal son, his daughter along with him." Logan paused. "Her name is Lilly."

"Have you seen them?" she asked.

"Yeah." He smiled. "She looks like a cross between Meg and Lilly. And the first time I met her, she told me the story of how her 'Auntie Veronica had saved her and her daddy from the bad people.'"

She laughed loudly, then got herself under control again. "And Duncan?"

"Took a swing at me for not looking out for you when I told him you were in Witness Protection. And another one a week later when he found the ring and put two and two together. Then he hugged me and told me I'd better have him in the wedding party if you said yes. Or get out of his way if you said no."

"So Duncan's the best man?" she asked easily, assuaging his worries in an instant.

"Maybe. Or maybe Dick. And then I guess Wallace would be my third groomsman."

"No way. Wallace is mine. I don't have enough female friends. So we make Duncan best man and Dick a groomsman, so Mac can walk with him down the aisle, and Wallace can be my man of honor."

Logan chuckled. "Even though his manliness may never recover?"

She shrugged. "I'll get him a stripper or something."

Dick burst through the door, his eyes settling immediately on Veronica. "Ronnie, I need your help."

"And the best way to get it? By not calling me Ronnie."

"Aww, come on, hear him out," Logan told her with a grin, then added, "Ronnie."

She was still glaring at Logan when she asked, through clenched teeth, "What's the problem, Dick?"

"Well...um..." He ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up even further, and then looked down at his shuffling feet. "Iwannaskmacout," he muttered, spilling the entire thing in what sounded like one word, possibly in some ancient tribal language.

Veronica raised her eyebrows. "Come again? A bit slower, louder, and more intelligible, please."

"I wanna ask Mac out," he repeated, blushing furiously.

"Oh. So, what, do you need my approval or something?" She really hoped that wasn't the case. Even though Mac seemed interested, she was sure that she was physically incapable of giving Dick the go-ahead.

"No, but...well, she's really smart and deep and stuff, so I don't think that she'll go for my patented 'I'm rich and have a great ass so let's have sex' approach. So what should I do?"

"Um..." She threw a panicked glance to Logan, but when he shrugged, all she could come up with was, "Dinner and a movie?"

"Yeah, but what movie? If I take her to see what I wanna see, she'll never speak to me again."

Just as Veronica was contemplating telling Dick that he might want to stick to the girls who were somewhere near his own intelligence level, or at least his place on the evolutionary scale, Logan gave her a look she knew all too well. It was the look he always gave her right before he did something stupid that she'd hate him for, usually for Dick's benefit. She started to take a sip of her iced tea in preparation for whatever he was about to say.

"Let's make it a double date."

Veronica would always remember that moment as the time she almost drowned in half a glass of iced tea.

"A what?" she shouted.

Logan got that look on his face again. "The movie theater in town shows old movies on Sunday afternoons. Tomorrow, they're doing _West Side Story._ I know you love it, so I thought I'd take you...maybe Mac would like to go too."

She smiled a little. At least he'd started out doing something thoughtful, before saddling her with Dick for several hours at a time. But since she figured she needed the karma points, she muttered, "Mac likes it too."

Dick nodded. "Okay. Thanks guys. Any, uh, progress with those files?"

Logan picked a random file off the bed, ready to read off yet another useless factoid. "Not unless you define progress as finding out that Liam was arrested with...Kelly Sullivan. About nine months before Molly was born."

"Molly's mom?" Veronica asked as the information started to sink into her head.

"So nothing, huh?" Dick asked, proving his perpetual cluelessness.

"Liam Fitzpatrick is Molly's father?" she asked blankly.

"Well, it explains the rabid overprotection, at least," Logan said. "Should have figured that only a father or a lover would kill to defend her honor."

Veronica had dialed Weevil's number from memory before she even processed her intention to do so.

As it rang, Dick gestured toward the door. "Right. So I'm gonna go talk to the Macster about Saturday."

"Good call," Logan muttered. He was still in shock about this new development, and he was sure Veronica was too. While it brought a lot of puzzle pieces into their proper places, it also threw him for one hell of a loop. From what he could tell, one of the things the Fitzpatrick clan loved so much about Liam was how doggedly he protected the family, so long as they didn't piss him off. Sleeping with his brother's wife just didn't fit with that.

He grabbed the phone from Veronica and snapped it shut before whoever she was calling could answer.

"What are you doing? Molly needs to be told!"

"And we need to talk about how this might affect our situation. Molly hates Liam now, and that's one of the best things we have going for us. What if this changes all that?"

"When I thought Jake was my dad, it didn't make me like him any more, and it didn't make his crimes any less horrible. It doesn't work like that, Logan. In fact, I hated him even more when I thought I was related to him." She sighed. "We have to tell her. I know what it's like, not knowing who my real dad is."

"And I know what it's like to know exactly who my real father is, and wish with every fiber of my being that it was somebody, _anybody, _else."

Veronica smiled a little. "Except my dad?"

"Except your dad," he agreed with a grin. "That would just be awkward." After a moment, he returned her phone. "Tell her. It wouldn't be right to keep her on our side under false pretenses."

She took the phone, but didn't dial immediately. "Good god, Logan, have you grown...a conscience?"

"Irritating side effect of spending too much time with you. Also, if she finds out on her own and then figures out we knew? We've got enough enemies already. More than enough."

Veronica nodded and dialed Weevil again.

He picked up halfway through the first ring. "Make up your mind, V," he said, sounding tired.

"Sorry, Logan grabbed the phone before. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just been a real long few days But we've gotten you a lot closer to being cool with the Fitzpatricks out here. Mol's in charge now. So now you just gotta deal with the crazy government guy and Danny and company. Molly can't get a hold of them, but she's making efforts for you."

"Well, that makes me feel like crap for what I found out about her. She there with you.?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"You've been saying 'we' a lot. Gives the impression that you're not alone."

"Oh. Wanna talk to her?"

"No, I think it'd be better if you told her. I get the idea that she prefers you to me."

Weevil hesitated, then said, "Yeah, alright. So what is it?"

"We did some digging and...Liam Fitzpatrick is Molly's real father."

Silence stretched over the line. Finally, he choked out a startled, "What?"

"He was arrested with Molly's mom nine months before she was born. And her father was already in prison. There's a slim chance it could be somebody else, but think about how he treats her, Weevil. The insane overprotection? Making sure, up until recently, that she didn't get too involved in the family business?"

"Yeah, you're right. Hold on."

Veronica could hear their muffled conversation, but she couldn't make out anything specific. She imagined that Weevil had pressed the phone to some part of his body in order to offer Molly some modicum of privacy. She used the spare time to put the cell on speakerphone so Logan could be in on it when they got to talking about the latest developments on the price on her head. A few minutes passed like that, until they heard a rattling, then a bang, then Molly.

"Sorry, Veronica, dropped the phone." Her voice was shaking. Clearly, her parentage had been news to her as well. "Could it have happened in a conjugal visit or something?"

"We thought of that too, only conjugals were outlawed four months before you were conceived. Anyway, if he'd had one, it would have been in his file, and it's not. I'm sorry, Molly."

She sniffed, and Veronica got the specific impression that she was actively pulling herself back together, shoving this new information into a mental lockbox to be dealt with later. Veronica herself was an expert at the practice, so she recognized it easily.

"Yeah, me too. Listen, this doesn't change anything, okay? I still hate the bastard. Anyway, you're safe with my people here."

"How did you pull that off, anyway?" Logan asked.

If Molly was shocked or disturbed about Logan being in on the conversation, she covered it very well. "Easy. Told them that Liam killed Cormac. Then they took a couple of days for Vinnie to dig around, and they figured out it was true. So instead of throwing the leader title up in the air so they could fight amongst themselves, they turned to the only person with a plan to get your dad to stop with the constant raids. And that was, of course, me. Problem is, Danny and his merry band of psychos are still on your tail. I can't seem to reach them, but I'll find them sooner or later. If I were you, I'd start preparing to come back as soon as they find out I'm in charge now."

"And Agent Michaels?" Veronica asked. She hated him almost as much as Danny. Almost as much as Liam, for that matter. The idea of betraying his office was mind-boggling to her. At least she understood the Fitzpatricks; they'd been raised that way. But what excuse did Agent Michaels have?

"Is a douchebag," she responded automatically. "Yeah, Weevil told me you want him turned in. Don't worry. Evidence against him fell into your dad's lap this morning, and I assume he'll make sure it finds its way to the proper authorities. They'll just need to find him to arrest him. And you and me? We're cool. I just hope you'll make the kind of effort to turn a blind eye with us that you do with Weevil, so long as we limit ourselves to minor felonies or get out of town. The second one is more likely, but until we can pull that off, how about that blind eye?"

"You've got a deal," Veronica said, feeling a bit like she'd just sold her soul to the devil. But then again, being with Logan, that almost seemed par for the course.

"Excellent. Here's Weevil."

She listened as the phone changed hands again. Then Weevil said, "You hear that, V? This nightmare's almost over. I sure am looking forward to seeing that gorgeous body around here again."

"Eli Navarro!" she exclaimed, pretending shock and offense. "You are talking to an engaged woman!"

"I'm talking to a _what?" _Weevil asked.

"Logan and I...we're engaged." Once again, there was silence. It lasted long enough for her to ask, "Weevil, are you okay?"

Finally, he said, "I'm throwing your boy his bachelor party."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine.

**Author's Note: **With regards to how long this took me to write...I suck. I'm sorry. But this story is actually almost over, so I shouldn't suck for too much longer. Or at least, you won't have to wait through too many more long periods of me sucking.

**Dedication: **To Kelly, and my readers and reviewers.

Witness Protection

Chapter Nineteen

Dick wasn't surprised to find Mac in her room, laying on her stomach on her bed, typing away on her laptop. "Whatcha doing?" he asked, plopping down on the bed beside her and glancing at the screen. It looked quite a lot like complete gibberish to him.

"Programming," she answered, typing in a few keys, then deleting several lines above. "Part of a new antivirus software that is supposed to make Norton look like a child shooting a BB gun at an elephant." She saved her work and then shut her laptop. She sat up to look at him, crossing her legs underneath her. "So what's up?"

Dick looked down and blushed, and Mac was, to her chagrin, instantly endeared. It was like she was seeing a whole new side to him. When she was dating Cassidy, she hadn't even suspected that there was anything substantial lurking under the surface of his big brother. Just more surface. But his reaction to Cassidy's death had tipped her off that maybe there was more to him. She thought she was seeing that now.

"Um...well...Logan's taking Ronnie out to see a movie tomorrow. So I thought, maybe, if you wanted to...maybe we could go too?"

Her face clouded over in confusion. It was just a movie. Why was he asking her like there was something else on his mind?

Seeing her confusion, Dick added, "Um...like a date."

The confusion cleared in favor of a deep blush. After a few seconds, she smiled and looked up at him. "Sure. That sounds really fun. What movie were you thinking about?"

"_West Side Story._ Back in theaters for one day only, or something."

It surprised both of them when Mac launched herself off of the bed and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. It didn't take long for her to realize that this was the first time she had her arms around him, at least when she wasn't trying to hold him up when he was drunk. Carefully, she extracted herself from his arms, which he'd wrapped around her despite his surprise.

"Sorry," she said. "I have, um...a funny reaction to that movie."

A wide smile spread across Dick's face. "Great. In that case, I'm _really_ looking forward to watching it with you."

* * *

"Mac and Dick," Veronica said. "Dick and Mac." She was trying very hard to process the idea of the two actually turning into something, and it wasn't the easiest thing she'd ever done. For her friend's sake, she was making an effort, but no matter which way she thought about it, she still felt like she was trying to fit two puzzle pieces together that just didn't match. In fact, they might have actually been from two different puzzles.

"Any luck?" Logan asked with a chuckle. She'd been working on this for ten minutes.

She shook her head. "Right now, my most possible scenarios still involve a lobotomy. Or two."

He returned to his spot on their bed, sweeping files out of his way to make room. It seemed like they'd encroached on his space when he'd left to use the restroom. "Okay, let's give your brain a break. What's the first thing you're gonna do when you get back to Neptune?"

"Hug my dad," Veronica said instantly.

He laughed. "Okay, that one was obvious. I should have known better. After that?" As she opened her mouth to reply, he quickly added, "And after you've hugged Wallace and Weevil and Duncan and flipped Celeste the bird, just for old times' sake."

She paused to really consider his question. She was sure there would be some sort of party involved with her return. Logan wouldn't let her just quietly reintegrate herself into the Neptune life. He would need everyone to know of her triumphant return to the land of the not-hunted. Finally, after another minute of careful consideration, she said, "I'm going to take Backup out to play on Dog Beach. For as long as he wants. Maybe he'll even find a Mrs. Backup and then I can give everyone puppies." She lounged back against the pillows, crushing more files beneath her. "God, I can't believe we're almost done. I've been running from who I am for so long, it'll probably take me at least a year to stop responding to my fake name. And that's just one of a million little things that I'll have to sort out once I get back. I mean, how do you reinsert yourself into a life that you were removed from?"

Logan smiled at her. "With a little help from your friends, of course.

* * *

Veronica and Logan refused to leave the house the next day before they were able to get a status update from Molly. She'd told them that she had a bead on Danny and Agent Michaels, and she promised she would call Logan's phone as soon as she caught up to them.

"You have nothing to worry about. Vinnie can't find you. I had him try, just to see if they'd be able to. He says you've been squeaky clean, so there's no way they're gonna know where you are. As far as we can tell, anyway."

It wasn't until after they'd gotten the reassurance from Molly that Logan and Veronica felt comfortable leaving their shelter, even to go into town. Even though they now had Molly on their side, and considered themselves safer than they'd been thusfar, the end of their nightmare was in sight...so they were much more paranoid about losing that.

After they were sure it was safe to venture into town, all four of them waved goodbye to Harvey and Lulu, who planned to spend the day with their own children. This would require a drive into Missoula, so Lulu had already made sure to tell them they were on their own for dinner. She also left her recipe for lasagna on the kitchen counter and a note telling them where to find all of the ingredients. Dick had decided that he too wished to be adopted by the Bombecks.

The theater, when they got there, wasn't crowded. There were only three other couples that were remotely their age, several single middle aged women, and even more single women who were definitely getting in with the senior discount. Logan led Veronica to the back row, where they were far enough away from the other patrons to be able to talk if they needed to, and Mac and Dick followed their lead.

"You've seriously never seen this movie?" Mac asked Dick as they sat down, her shock coming through in her voice. "How is that possible?"

"My dad." Dick said. "Not so much a guy who could encourage a familiar relationship with musicals. You said it's based on _Romeo and Juliet,_ right?" She nodded and he went on. "Yeah, pretty sure he wouldn't have even let me read that if school hadn't required it."

Mac already hated Dick Senior, but this new information still surprised her. "Why?" After all, there was nothing more than the hint of sex in this movie, and the violence was incredibly tame, compared to nearly every movie that came out in their childhood. Why would a parent want to keep their child away from it?

He shrugged. "Plays are for sissies." Seeing her stricken expression, he quickly added, _"Not_ my opinion. That was a direct quote from Daddy Dearest. He was an action movie type of guy. He was just _thrilled_ when I became friends with Logan. It put him in proximity with the great Aaron Echolls."

The sarcasm and bitterness in his tone reminded Mac of her favorite of his qualities: his unfailing loyalty to his friends.

"You're a good person, Dick," she said suddenly.

He looked down. "I know I'm not what you want."

Mac hesitated, then rested her hand on his. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, you're really smart and stuff," he muttered. "And I'm kind of an idiot a lot of the time."

"You're not an idiot," she said softly. "Look at them."

Dick could easily deduce that she was talking about Logan and Veronica, so he followed her instructions and glanced at the couple. They seemed to be lost in their own world. She was curled up against him, as if they were waiting for a movie to start on TV, on their couch at home, instead of in a movie theater. He held her hand in his while she cuddled ever closer into him.

"Yeah, what about them?" Dick asked, looking back to Mac.

"I know, in my head, I think Veronica Mars, and the first trait that pops into my mind is her love of justice. But Logan...he's more than willing to break the law, for any reason, in the pursuit of justice or otherwise. They've done so much damage to each other over the years, and even if we just look at the year after Lilly died, you'd think that her need for justice would completely prevent what we're seeing now. But none of it matters, not really. Because he's what she wants. And that nullifies all their history and seemingly irreconcilable differences."

He smiled slowly. "So...you're saying that I _am_ what you want?"

"I'm saying that I think you might be. And that you shouldn't rule out the idea because we're too different. Instead...let's see where this goes. Okay?"

He nodded, just as the lights went down and the movie started.

* * *

"You cried," Logan accused playfully.

"Nope," Veronica denied.

"You totally did."

"While I will admit that it's a very sad movie, I definitely didn't cry."

"You were sobbing into my shirt. It's still wet."

"You spilled Sprite on yourself."

"_You_ spilled tears. On me.

"Nope," Veronica said again. She was lying. She had sobbed like a little girl.

Their playful banter continued, much to Mac and Dick's amusement, all the way back to the house.

Logan was the first to let himself in, and he looked back at Veronica as he pushed the door open. "Seriously, when that one guy died, you actually had the full attention of one of the old blue-haired ladies. Because you were so loud. You know, with the crying."

"Are you sure that wasn't you?" she asked, walking past him. He held the door open for the other two, then closed and locked it behind them.

The voice that answered surprised them all. "Oh no, it takes a lot to make that one cry."

Veronica froze, and her three companions had the same reaction. Danny Boyd had just entered the room from the kitchen. Seconds later, thirteen other people had crowded the living room, surrounding them on all sides. Though only about half of them had their guns trained on the four friends, she knew each and every one of them carried one. And they didn't have a single weapon amongst them.

She knew it then. They'd gotten too comfortable. They'd been safe for five days and took it to mean they could be safe forever. _And maybe we could have been,_ she thought. But what had given them away? Harvey and Lulu hadn't; of that, she was absolutely sure. Mac and Dick hadn't sold them out either, nor had her father. How had they known?

"How did you find us?" she asked. Her voice was shaking. Logan tried to move in front of her, to block the space between her and Danny, but she grabbed his arm, stopping him. They were surrounded. It would be pointless.

A blond man stepped forward. His hair was slicked back with gel, making it look more like a helmet than hair. He was a little over six feet tall and, unlike the others there, wore a suit. She took him to be Agent Brett Michaels, which he confirmed as soon as he started speaking. "So nice to meet you in person, Veronica. And actually, it was dear little Cindy that made all the difference."

Mac looked horrified. She'd followed all of Veronica's instructions, and she'd been so careful...what had she done wrong?

"You see, she was so eager to see you again. Too eager to follow the speed limit. Two tickets, in two different places. I hear you're the brains of this operation, Cindy. So, basic high school math: what do two points make?"

"A line," she responded, her voice choked with revulsion. This was her fault.

"That's right. A line pointing straight at Montana. But we couldn't be certain where you were. So we took a trick out of your book, Veronica. We knew what car Cindy had been pulled over in, so then all we had to do was activate the GPS tracking device inside of it. And here we are. Now, Boyd, you have your orders."

Danny raised his gun and pointed it at Veronica's head. "Sorry kid," he said. "It's been fun."

"Oh, wait," the agent said. "Logan was supposed to die first, wasn't he? And perhaps we should kill Cindy too. And..." He looked at Dick. "Who are you, exactly?"

"Dick Casablancas," he replied. He didn't sound scared. He sounded like he was having a normal conversation on a normal day with someone he didn't feel any particular warmth for. He could have been talking about the weather with the supermarket store clerk.

Agent Michaels had his gun pointed at him instantly. "And why haven't we heard of you? We've done _extensive_ research on Veronica's life, and you never came up. There was a Cassidy Casablancas..."

All four of them flinched at the name, but Dick recovered first. "Probably haven't heard of me because Ronnie's never been very fond of me." He shrugged. "I'm sort of a douche bag."

Agent Michaels put away his gun. "Then you're not important. But Cindy..."

Danny raised his gun again and pointed it at Mac. Veronica understood, with a flash of intuition tempered with panic, that it would be Danny who would be doing all the killing here today. He was, after all, Liam's right hand man. All the other guns were just security, and Agent Michaels wouldn't get his hands dirty if he had someone else to do it for him. Otherwise, they'd have been dead, shot from all sides, before they even realized what was happening. The others would only shoot if they tried to escape this slow, torturous game. Or to attack Danny, which was a thought that Veronica was sure had already crossed the minds of both Logan and Dick.

"No," Dick said, still strangely calm. He stepped in front of Mac, placing himself between her and the gun. He'd had the same realization as Veronica. The one to deal with had to be Danny.

Danny seemed confused. "Don't you get it, kid? We're letting you go. You get to leave, once we're done here. Can't have you calling the cops or anything, but you're not important enough to kill. So why don't you go wait upstairs while we take care of this, huh?"

"Can't do that," Dick replied. "Ronnie doesn't like me, but Logan's sorta my best friend, and Mac...well, she's the only one who thinks I've got a shot at _not_ being a douche bag. Can't really prove her wrong now, can I?" He looked behind him to meet Mac's eyes.

She shook her head frantically, unable to articulate how very stupid he was being. They were all going to die, with or without his getting himself killed too. Didn't he understand that?

He looked back at Danny. "Sorry dude. But you're gonna have to shoot me to get to her."

Danny shrugged. "Okay then." He took aim at Dick's chest, gave him a lopsided grin, and fired.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note:** Okay, so merely for the record, according to my own rules, I was supposed to write a chapter each of my other two works in progress before writing this chapter. But I realized, from your reviews, how very cruel it would be to leave that cliffhanger for longer than it took to get my inspiration working. So I decided to write this instead. I hope you like it.

**Dedication: **To Kelly, even though she's slacking in the review department, and to all the people who reviewed.

Witness Protection

Chapter Twenty

Dick dropped like a stone before Logan, Veronica, or Mac could remember how to move.

"Pity," Danny said. "I really didn't want to kill him," he explained to Mac.

She dropped to the floor to see how badly Dick was hurt, and only then realized that she was covered in blood. The bullet had gone through Dick's chest, splattering her with his blood, and into her shoulder. She'd barely felt it go in, as flush with adrenaline as her system was, but the pain set in as soon as she moved.

Dick suddenly drew in a deep, loud breath of air, his eyes flying open as his hand instinctively went to cover the hole in his chest.

"If he was any relation to Cassidy, then he had such potential," Danny went on. "You know the psycho gene runs in families, and _my_ family was so impressed with Cassidy's work."

Logan and Veronica flinched again at Cassidy's name, though this time, they were the only ones. Dick and Mac were too distracted by their wounds. Barely thirty seconds had passed since the gun had gone off, and the couple came out of their shock at the same time. They both knew why the moment was so hard to process. They'd both been threatened, attacked, and shot at. But to see a friend shot three feet away from them brought the situation into a harsh, bright clarity that they could have done without.

Before, Veronica felt like she was watching from a point outside of herself, somewhere detached, and possibly underwater. She'd learned to see many situations this way – it helped her think clearly while everyone else would panic - and it had gotten her out of a lot of scrapes. Now, she felt paralyzed.

Tears were flowing down Mac's face as she tore her jacket off to put pressure to Dick's wound. Though she was trying her hardest to ignore her own injury in favor of his, she couldn't stop a cry of pain from passing through her lips when the removal of her jacket stretched and pulled at her shoulder. She knew it was futile; they'd probably all be dead in five minutes, and she was almost sure Dick's lung was punctured, which meant he needed more than her rudimentary first aid skills, but she had to do what she could.

"Someone probably heard that gunshot," Agent Michaels said. "And if they did, they called the cops." He looked at Veronica, and a note of sadness entered his tone. "I'm afraid we're out of time for games. Just kill them, Danny. Mr. Echolls first."

Things started happening very fast at that moment. Danny once again shrugged and raised his gun. Logan stared him down while Veronica shouted "No!" and attempted to maneuver herself in front of him, which he absolutely refused to let her do. Then the three Fitzpatricks facing the kitchen visibly relaxed. Of those three, the only one who'd had his gun ready to fire lowered it to his side. Then a gunshot rang out.

Danny dropped his gun and clutched his bleeding hand, a stream of curses spewing from his mouth.

"You can all put your guns down now," a voice announced. "You're done here."

Immediately, all heads turned toward the voice. Almost every gun in the circle surrounding the four friends fell to the ground harmlessly. Only one man kept his gun where it was, trained on Veronica's head. He looked more confused than anything else.

Agent Michaels raised his gun to point at the newcomer, though she, of course, had brought plenty of backup. Molly Fitzpatrick still had her gun aimed at Danny, but her cold eyes were on the rogue FBI agent. Vinnie Van Lowe stood next to her, looking mildly uncomfortable. Behind her, there were at least another ten people. Veronica assumed they were all connected to the family, and all more than willing to hand Molly the reins.

"It's over, Brett," she told him. Her voice dripped with disdain, though her eyes now flitted to the other men who'd followed Danny in his quest to obey Liam's orders. "I've taken over. Liam's gone and good riddance. Turns out I'm his rightful heir, not to mention the only one with a plan to stop Keith Mars' vendetta." She looked down to Mac, still pressing her jacket to Dick's chest. "Call 911. Your boyfriend needs a hospital." The words were almost kind. She nodded to Vinnie, and he handed Mac the cordless phone from the kitchen.

"I wouldn't do that, Cindy," Agent Michaels said, pointing his gun at her before she could get past the first button. She froze, her finger hovering over the '1' button.

Molly used his distraction to move her own gun, to point it at his forehead. Her voice was hard again as she continued to explain what the shift in leadership meant. "Veronica Mars and everyone who associates with her are free and clear. In fact, I'd even call them untouchable at this point. This family is getting the fuck out of the murder business. Or would you all prefer to have Sheriff Mars throw you in prison for the rest of your days? That's the only reason you'd need Liam's favor now."

Brett Michaels sensed that he was out of time. If he could only kill one, it had to be Veronica. As he was turning to fire at her, he was tackled from the side. The gunshot went way off its mark and the bullet embedded itself in the ceiling. He looked up to see who'd stopped him.

Danny Boyd climbed to his feet, still clutching his hand. The only Fitzpatrick who'd still had his gun on Veronica moved to point it at the agent, finally catching on to where his loyalties belonged.

"What the fuck, Boyd?" Michaels demanded as his gun was pulled out of his hand. "You want the little bitch dead as much as Liam does!"

"Wrong," Boyd answered. "I'm loyal to the _family,_ Brett, not Liam. With no one else in charge, I follow Liam's orders, sure, no reason not to. But if the family's behind Molly now..." he trailed off, his point made.

"Call," Molly told Mac again. "Tell them you've got several injuries, all caused by a crazy FBI agent. I'm sure his info is in the system by now." She turned to Veronica. "You'll corroborate?"

"Yes," Veronica answered immediately. She met Molly's eyes and held them for a moment before saying, "Thank you. So much."

Molly nodded. "Call me when you get back to Neptune. We should probably have a sit-down and talk through all of this. Weevil's got my number." She grabbed a pair of handcuffs from Vinnie and cuffed Michaels to the banister. Mac was on the phone now, rattling off their address. "We need to be going. Danny will stay to make sure this goes smoothly and to get the attention his hand needs. If the cops ask why he's here..."

Logan jumped in with their story. "He was hitch-hiking nearby when he heard the gun go off and he came by to try to help out. We never would have made it if it wasn't for him."

"He saved our lives," Veronica continued. "And we'll always be grateful to him." She looked at Danny for a moment before wrinkling her nose. "But not quite grateful enough to give him a ride back to Neptune. He's on his own there."

Molly smiled. "We'll be at the motel in town when he needs to find us. Will your friend know what to say when the time comes?" she asked, looking at Dick.

It wasn't entirely clear if he was conscious, but he weakly raised a hand and nodded, signaling his compliance. His breathing was still loud, and they could all hear the wet sound of it, the fluid in his lungs.

"You expect me to go with that story?" Michaels asked incredulously.

"It's five against one," Veronica answered coolly. "You can tell them whatever you want."

Molly nodded to Veronica once more before she departed, the rest of the extended family trailing after her after they retrieved their guns from the floor.

"I'm just gonna sit over there," Danny said, gesturing to the stairs next to Agent Michaels. "And stay out of your way."

Logan was overcome with the need to kiss Veronica. They were still surrounded by chaos, though their lives were, for the moment, no longer in peril. But he needed to kiss her, to reassure himself that they'd made it through this intact. She didn't object.

"Um, guys?" Mac asked after a minute. "Am I doing the right thing here? Keeping pressure on the wound? And I think there's a bullet still in my shoulder."

Veronica did not want to let go of Logan, and he seemed to be of the same opinion, but she forced herself to drop to the floor beside Mac. "You're doing the right thing. Are you feeling woozy? You're looking more pale than usual, and that probably means you've lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel it," she admitted quietly. Veronica looked up at Logan, and he quickly darted into the kitchen and reappeared with a tablecloth. She started to wrap it around Mac's shoulder awkwardly, since Mac refused to release the pressure on Dick's chest.

They were all surprised when Dick spoke. "Maybe you should...lay down or...something." The words were quiet, wheezing. He had to inhale after every few words. "If you're losing...blood, I mean."

Mac smiled weakly. "And leave you to bleed to death after you took a bullet for me? I don't think so."

"Didn't...do much good. You still...got shot."

"Yeah, but it's non-fatal. You're still one of the heroes of the day."

Dick smiled. "Sounds like a...good epitaph."

She smoothed his hair back from his face. "Shh. Quiet, you. You're not going to die."

In truth, none of them were at all confident about that. They knew next to nothing about medicine. But they could hear sirens in the distance. It would only be a few more minutes. Logan looked from one person to the next. "We're all clear on the story?" he asked. His eyes rested on Danny. While the others nodded their assent, Danny saluted him and gave him a wide smile.

Mac couldn't help thinking about what would happen if the ambulance was too late. Her mind raced with the possibilities, and the idea that Dick might really die simply would not leave her head.

Just in case, she lowered her face to his and kissed him lightly on the lips, then on the forehead. "You're going to live."


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**Author's Note: **I have absolutely no excuse for how long this took. So I'll just apologize and let you get to it. I'm so sorry. That was a really bitchy cliffhanger to leave it on, and I really didn't mean to. Thank you EVERYONE for your reviews. And I literally decided I would not allow myself to eat anything until I finished this chapter, so it's been like 15 hours since I had food...and I'm kinda hungry. So I hope you enjoy.

**Dedication: **Kelly, thank you so much for sticking by me through this and every other story I don't update often enough. And to my reviewers...this is still going because of you. Thank you so much for your input.

Witness Protection

Chapter 21

In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Dick Casablancas died.

For exactly eighty-two seconds.

Mac felt every single one of those seconds. They'd shared an ambulance. She was barely holding on to consciousness as it was, but the second she heard that Dick had stopped breathing, she snapped back to attention, jerking upright in a way that made her shoulder scream. The only thing that kept her from hyperventilating was the knowledge that Dick needed all the medical attention that he could get, and a panic attack from her would only distract the paramedics. Finally, he took a deep breath, which sounded horrible because of the blood flooding his lungs, but at least he was breathing. Then Mac felt woozy and passed out.

At his insistence, Danny had been given on-site treatment and asked to drop by the sheriff's station later to give his statement. Instead, he'd told them he needed to give his statement right away, since he needed to be moving on, like the drifter he was supposed to be. In truth, he just didn't want to be fingerprinted, in case there was a warrant out on him that he didn't know about.

Agent Brett Michaels had been screaming about conspiracies when he was manhandled into the sheriff's car. However, he hadn't accused Danny of anything, probably because accusing the man who all the other witnesses claimed was the hero would not have gained him any points with local law enforcement. But Veronica suspected he'd pour the entire truth out later. Hopefully, by then, Danny would be long gone and lost in the obscurity of society's underbelly.

Logan and Veronica followed the ambulance in her car. Logan drove. Veronica was shaking too hard to trust herself behind the wheel. He was only keeping his cool out of necessity. It wouldn't be fair to Veronica if he broke when she needed him so much. Especially not when he'd begged and pleaded her for years to need him at all.

They were almost to the hospital when Veronica began to focus on the things that needed to be done. It was a distraction from the cacophony in her head, and she knew that, if she could just keep her mind on the little problems at hand, she wouldn't be stuck thinking in circles about her injured – _maybe dying oh please don't let him die – _friends.

That thought alone brought her up short. Dick was her friend. If he hadn't been before, he definitely was after today. If, no, _when, _he got better, she'd scrunch her nose up at the idea, but for now, she accepted that she didn't exactly get a choice in the matter.

"We need to call my dad and Harvey and Lulu. If they get back to their house and it looks like it does...a bullet in the wall and blood all over the floor, they'll think the worst and panic and the last thing I want to do is give either of them a heart attack. My dad has to know so we can deal with getting everything shifted back into my name and getting all your money transferred back to you."

"You don't have to give it all back," Logan said quietly. He knew how much she hated taking money from him, but even the half that remained in his account, plus the extra tied up in stocks and bonds, was more than he could ever spend in his lifetime. Aaron had gotten twenty million dollars per crappy movie, and he'd made dozens, pumped out one after the other, like there was a factory somewhere. Even split between him and Trina, with even a little luck, the fortune would keep their grandkids rich.

"I'm not taking your money, Logan," she said in a tired voice. They'd had this conversation many times before over the years of their friendship.

A grin came to his face. It was tight and not quite sincere, given the circumstances, but he was trying to rein in his panic, just like she was. "You know, if you marry me, it'll all be half yours anyway."

Veronica's mouth dropped open. She hadn't thought of that. Luckily, at that moment, Logan pulled up at the hospital, and she was saved from having to come up with a reasonable response.

The ambulance had already unloaded Mac and Dick into the emergency room. They went inside and were immediately shown to a small waiting room off to the side...but not before they heard a scream and a string of curses that even Logan could admire. The voice was unmistakable. That had to be Mac. Veronica guessed they had just pulled the bullet out.

"Wow," Logan muttered. "I think she's been spending too much time around Dick."

Any other day, Veronica would have replied that _any _time around Dick was too much, but not today. Not after he'd just taken a bullet to save one of her best friends. "Call Harvey and Lulu. They'll be home soon, and they need to be prepared."

"I wouldn't know what to say," he replied quietly. He didn't want to be serious in this moment. If he were serious, he'd have to think about how his best friend might die doing the first honorable thing of his life. "I mean...how do you start a conversation like that?"

She took his hand and tugged him to sit in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs next to her. She curled up into him as best she could, bringing her legs up to her chest and leaning her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll do it. I've had a lot of practice with awkward phone calls."

Still, she sat with him like that in silence for another few minutes before she could convince herself that moving from that position was in everyone's best interest. She wanted to call her dad first, but that call would take longer, and he wasn't about to walk into his house, expecting four young adults, and finding bloodstains instead. So she dialed Harvey's number.

He picked up after the third ring. "Hey, Veronica, how was your movie? How much of a disaster area is the kitchen?"

"The kitchen's fine," she said, but he caught the note of hesitance in her voice.

"Is there some other part of the house we should be worried about?" The concern in his voice almost broke her, but she soldiered on. She heard the beep telling her that she'd been put on speakerphone, so Lulu could hear what she said as well.

"There's a lot of blood...and the cops might still be there. But Logan and I are fine. We're at the hospital. Mac got shot in the shoulder, but she'll probably be okay, and Dick..." She took a deep breath. "Well...we're waiting to see about Dick."

"Oh lord...they found you?" Lulu asked, her terror at the idea coming through in her question.

"Yeah. But it's okay. I'll explain later, I promise. I just didn't want you guys to come home and find it the way it is without knowing that we're okay."

"We're heading to the hospital to wait with you. We're only two towns over. Do you need anything? Clothes or food? Coffee?" Harvey asked.

Veronica was highly aware that she had an amazing father, and that her mother was less than stellar. But she completely understood, in that moment, exactly why people who had bad parents, like Logan and Dick, wanted to be adopted by the Bombecks. They really were the best parents ever...even to those that weren't officially their children.

"I don't know...I haven't even thought about...Logan, do we need anything?"

Logan held his hand out for the phone, and she handed it over. "If you guys can get into the house without the cops jumping on you, Dick and Mac could both use a change of clothes. Maybe Ronnie and me too, if we're here overnight. Don't worry about food and coffee. There are vending machines here for both."

"Don't you even _think _of sustaining yourself on that poison, Logan Echolls!" Lulu said. "We'll bring you something to eat. If you must have the hospital coffee, I can accept that, but I am _not _letting you and Veronica live on...Funyons and...and...." She searched her memory for something equally lacking in nutrition.

"Ho hos?" he asked helpfully.

"Yes! Ho hos! Funyons and ho hos are not dinner."

A smile passed over Logan's face, then disappeared quickly. "Alright. We'll see you when you get here. And...uh, I'll pay for any damage to your house."

"We can work that out later, son," Harvey told him. "You don't need to worry about that tonight. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Okay. We're in Waiting Room B, next to the emergency room. See you soon," Logan said, before flipping the phone shut and handing it back to Veronica. "Call your dad. If he hears about this from anyone other than you, you'll never hear the end of it. And you can bet all of this is going to make the 8:00 news, probably all over the damn country."

Veronica sighed. She didn't think she'd ever felt so tired in her entire life, and she knew her night was only just getting started. Sleep would be hours away, and those hours would be jam-packed with nothing but stress and tension, starting with the phone call to her worrying father.

She'd thought the end of her war with the Fitzpatrick clan would feel better.

Before she called her dad, she sent out a text message to Wallace and Weevil. S_afe. Be home soon. Will call when able. -V_

As she dialed her father, she decided that, just as it was with the Bombecks, her dad would have to wait until a later time to hear the whole story. She just didn't have enough energy to spare. The phone rang, and she sorted through the facts, picking out the most important to tell Keith Mars.

"Sheriff Mars," the gruff voice answered. Veronica realized that he didn't have this number. The last time she'd risked calling him, he'd advised her to go to Helena. It sounded like she'd caught him in a bad mood. But then, from what she heard from Molly and Weevil, that had been his usual mood since her departure.

"Hey, dad, it's me," she said. She hated the way her voice trembled. But between her worry for her friends and her instant, instinctual relief at her father's voice, she couldn't help it.

"Veronica! Is everything okay?"

_Well, good news first, _she thought. "It's over. We made a deal with them and I'm safe now. But part of it is that you won't go looking for things to charge them with."

"Alright," he said hesitantly. He didn't like letting them off on the small stuff any more than Veronica did, but he'd deal with it if it meant her return. "How did it happen? I want details."

"Dad...I'll tell you everything, I swear, down to the tiniest of Logan's weird hand gestures." At that, Logan sent her a tired and strained smile, along with a tiny bow. "But I can't right now. There's just way too much. So I'll give you the highlights, okay?"

She sensed disapproval in his silence, but he finally said, "Okay. Highlights."

Veronica took a deep breath, and then put the essential issues into short, succinct sentences. She was careful to look at them as cold facts. If she didn't, her emotions would get the better of her, and this was not the time to let that happen. "Molly's the new leader of the Fitzpatricks. She just saved our asses. Mac has a shoulder wound. Dick is pretty bad off. He took a bullet for Mac. Logan and I are fine. We're in the hospital in Helena."

There was another pause, and then Keith said, "I'm catching a plane. I'll be there by morning."

* * *

A few hours later, Mac entered the room with her arm in a sling. She looked gratefully at the pile of clothes Harvey and Lulu had brought, though she needed Veronica to help her change.

As the two girls reentered the room, Mac muttered, "We will never speak of this again."

"My lips are sealed," Veronica promised, returning to Logan's side.

Logan wasn't doing well. A doctor had come in – a few minutes after Veronica had talked to her dad – to introduce himself as Dr. Gavin Davidson and to tell them that Dick was in critical condition, but heading for surgery with their most qualified surgeons. With every hour that passed with no more news of Dick's health, Logan's state worsened. He wasn't as obvious about it as Veronica would have been, but she saw it easily. Every time the door opened, he looked up with such a hopeful expression that it hurt her each time it was just a nurse checking on them, and his expression fell. He got quieter, but his body was constantly in motion. Mostly, his leg bounced up and down. When she'd gently put a hand over his knee because she was sure the constant tapping would drive everyone insane, he'd started cracking his knuckles. Under different circumstances, she would have found this behavior amusing.

She wasn't laughing now. Instead, she got as close to him as the chairs would allow and put her arms around him. She kissed his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair in what she hoped was a soothing manner.

Harvey and Lulu gestured Mac to the table. They'd made a quick stop at their house for clothes, but Lulu wasn't in the mood to cook, even if she'd had time, so they'd brought in a sandwich platter from a local deli. It wasn't as fresh as it had been when they first arrived, but it wouldn't give anyone food poisoning either, and it was still preferable to hospital food, especially to someone who'd lost a lot of blood.

Mac selected a veggie wrap and was barely settled into the chair opposite Logan and Veronica when Logan asked, "How is he?" His voice was rough. He'd barely spoken more than few words at a time since the doctor had come.

She hesitated. She saw the same decline in him that Veronica did. But she had to answer honestly. "Not too well," she admitted. "They took him off to surgery almost as soon as we got here, but...he died in the ambulance. For over a minute." There were tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "And they put this tube in his chest. Thank god he was unconscious, because I think it'll haunt me for the rest of my life." She sniffed and focused on a point right under the clock on the wall. "But I swear, when he gets through this, I'm done letting the bullshit get between us. I can't let my past and his...family get in the way of something maybe really good." She turned and met Veronica's eyes. "I loved Cassidy. I'm sorry, Veronica, but I did. So did Dick. That should push us together, not drive us apart, right?"

Veronica look Logan's hand and looked at his face, which, for a moment, looked even bleaker than before, then smoothed back to its former state. He was thinking of the same person she was. Lilly. Their love for her had driven them apart, and then together. She suddenly felt she understood the Mac and Dick thing a whole lot better. "In an ideal world...yeah. It bonds you. But in reality...it usually drives you apart first. But if you can get past the bullshit...yeah, it can be really good. And you don't ever have to apologize for loving him. I understand." She gestured at the seat next to her, and Mac moved to it. The hand that wasn't holding Logan's went around her friend, who continued to pick at her veggie wrap.

The position was awkward for her, but she didn't mind. Instead, she pulled them both closer. The three of them huddled together for support. To Harvey and Lulu, it looked like they were preparing for a bomb to hit. They older couple quietly made their exit. After a brief discussion, they decided to bring in more food, this time for the emergency room staff. Lulu hated to be idle at a time like this, and feeding people brought her comfort, so she and her husband went in search of some twenty four hour takeout.

Several hours later, Dr. Davidson passed the break room, where Harvey and Lulu were setting up enough food to feed an army, and found the three young adults in more or less the same position they'd assumed before. Mac had slumped down a bit in sleep, so her head rested in Veronica's lap, while Veronica's arm still lay on top of Mac's stomach. The blond had fallen asleep on Logan's shoulder, her hand still gripped in his. He was still awake, staring ahead and trying not to think about what would happen if Dick died. As soon as the doctor entered, his hand clenched around Veronica's, and her jerk of surprise woke Mac up.

Though the doctor looked like he was going to wait for Veronica and Mac to fully regain consciousness before he gave them the news, Logan gritted out, "Just tell us. Now."

Dr. Davidson leveled his gaze on him. "Mr. Casablancas is going to recover. We'll need to keep him for a few more days, and he'll want to avoid any strenuous activity for at least two months. But barring any complications or heroic idiocy on his part, I see no reason why he shouldn't be as good as new eventually. He'll be awake in the morning and you can see him then."

Mac broke down in relieved tears and hugged Veronica. Unsure of where Harvey and Lulu were, Veronica typed a quick text message to Harvey's phone, relaying the news.

Logan hugged Dr. Davidson.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**Author's Note: **So close to the end here. And probably no more really cruel cliffhangers left alone for months. Dedicated to Kelly and the readers and reviewers.

Witness Protection

Chapter Twenty-Two

Keith Mars arrived at the Bombeck house a few minutes before six in the morning. Veronica had texted him on their way back to the house to let him know where she'd be and to remind him where they kept their spare key, in case he got there before anyone woke up. He was amused that she didn't seem to know that he'd been the one to put their spare where it was.

Since there were no lights on and the house was silent, that seemed to be the case. He didn't want to wake anyone up, so he felt along the bottom of the window to the left of the door for the small compartment that held the spare key. Harvey was practically his brother. Letting him keep the key to his house in an obvious fake rock would have been an insult to their friendship.

When he got inside, he discovered that he could have gone without the key. A soft knock would have gotten Mac's attention. She was sitting in front of her laptop at the dining room table, the soft glow providing the only light in the room. He could hear her typing in keys one at a time. He was confused for a moment. If she was supposed to be a computer genius, why was she typing like...well, like him? Then he saw the sling.

Mac looked up from her computer, startled by the sound of his footsteps. Her face relaxed as soon as she recognized him, but he didn't miss the look of fear that crossed it first. "Hey, Sheriff Mars," she said quietly, looking back at her screen.

"Mac, how many years has it been? It's Keith, please. Anyway, shouldn't you be asleep? I hear that's one of the very few activities you're supposed to do after you get shot."

She shook her head. "Can't sleep."

Keith came closer, then took across the table from her. "Nightmares?"

"No, nightmares would require me to get to sleep first. Just...every time I close my eyes, I see that ambulance, and the emergency room..." She trailed off, unable to finish. What she'd experienced in the waiting room, huddled with Veronica and Logan, was not so much sleep, but more like unconsciousness. She hadn't fallen asleep; she had passed out. She looked back to him again. "I'm sorry. You must be dying to see Veronica. She and Logan are up the stairs, to the right, and down at the very end of the hall."

He winced. He'd been trying very hard to delude himself into thinking that they were in separate bedrooms, and that all those hotel rooms they'd stayed in had two beds. "I'm assuming that they _can _sleep?"

Mac noticed his expression and immediately regretted giving him that mental picture. "Yeah, I think they're asleep."

"Then I won't interrupt." He went to the pantry, hoping that Lulu still favored the local coffee that was, in his opinion, the best coffee in the known universe. He wished they had a website so he could order it online. Sure enough, there were a few bags of differing flavors on the top shelf, right where he remembered them. "I think I'm going to need some world class coffee to get through this day. Want some?"

"Sure. And I'm guessing you want more details about yesterday than Veronica gave you? She told me she didn't exactly elaborate."

He set some hazelnut coffee to brewing, then sat down across from her again to wait. "See, Mac, that's a quality I love for Veronica's friends to have. My life is just so much simpler when you're forthcoming."

* * *

Despite how hard the night before had been, Veronica woke up a little after eight that morning. Logan was still out for the count, and she couldn't blame him. She'd slept a little at the hospital, but he hadn't. She let him sleep and went downstairs in her pajamas. She knew no one else in the house would object, so she didn't want to wake Logan up by trying to find an outfit for the day.

She heard her father's voice before she actually saw him. The only thing that kept her from sprinting to him was her strong desire to not fall down the stairs or go sliding across the floor like Tom Cruise in that movie Logan liked. "Well, of course _you _approve of him, Harvey. He's exactly like you were at that age."

"Head over heels in love with my Lulu and willing to do whatever it took to keep her by my side? Yeah, that sounds about right. Listen, Keith, I know they haven't been here long, but I've seen them fight and make up and function like couples their age can usually only dream of. I know he's had his problems. The lovebirds told us all about it the night they got in. But hell, growing up in that house? Who could blame him for being a bit on the wild side? If we could, we'd adopt the kid. If you try to look at this without the overprotective father perspective..."

Harvey never finished his sentence. Veronica came into the room and headed straight for her dad, wrapping her arms around his neck and trying to hold back the tears. "Dad! How long have you been here? Why didn't you wake me up? I missed you so much!" She lost the battle with her tears and allowed herself to cry into his shirt.

"I got here a couple hours ago, sweetie. And I didn't wake you up because I didn't want to accidentally walk in on you and Logan, and don't think we won't be having a talk about that later. And Veronica, I missed you too. So much." He kissed her forehead and felt his own tears making tracks down his face.

Harvey left the room to give his old friend some privacy for his reunion with his daughter. He knew they wouldn't have long. Visiting time at the hospital started in an hour, and Mac was already upstairs getting ready to leave. To give Keith and Veronica more time, he went to wake Logan up. He knew the boy hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, but he also knew that he would rather see his friend alive and recovering than catch up on his sleep anyway.

Keith and Veronica sat at the table after she'd poured the latest batch of the coffee that had been brewing, and being consumed, almost continuously since he'd arrived. "So, honey, when do you think you'll come home? Do you have any idea what you'll want to do? You know, we're in the house now, and there's more room for you if you want to come live with us."

'Us' was Alicia and Wallace's little brother, Darrell. Wallace had his own apartment and a job in engineering. That was all she knew, since all the technical ways he'd described it went completely over her head. But she was glad her dad and Alicia had worked out their differences. If her dad had to have a girlfriend, she was glad it was Alicia. But the room he was talking about that was available was Wallace's old room, the very same place they used to hide out while their parents got friendly on the couch.

"Dad, I know it's a new and strange thing to hear me saying this, but I can't wait to go home to Neptune. But I think, wherever I end up staying, it's going to be with Logan. I mean, we've been on the run together, and we've stayed in the same place the whole time. Kind of like a mobile version of living together, but staying somewhere without him? It would just seem way too much like moving backwards. And we've done enough of that, way too much of that, actually."

"Veronica, are you....?"

"Sure?" She finished for him, then looked at her ring. "I'm going to marry him, Dad. I know it might seem crazy to you, but...I love him. And he loves me. And we've let everything else complicate that for as long as I can remember."

Keith nodded and took his daughter's hand. "Alright, honey. I get it. I'll try my hardest to like him. Anyway, if Harvey and Lulu love him as much as they say, he can't be all bad, right?"

"Glad to hear it," Logan muttered, stumbling into the room in his flannel pajama pants. He made his way over to the coffee pot and glared at it for being empty. He looked longingly at Veronica's steaming cup, and she smiled and started preparing the next batch.

"Sorry, Dad. He's really not a morning person."

"You're not all that chipper yourself after two hours sleep, Ronnie." He cast a bleary eye at the table, where Keith was trying to decide if he was amused or irritated. "Morning, Keith."

Keith would have preferred 'Mr. Mars,' or, even better, 'Sheriff Mars,' but he had to admit, it was a step up from 'dude.' "Logan," he said evenly. "Glad to see you've kept my daughter more or less intact."

Logan shrugged. "It was a group effort."

Veronica took a bag of bagels off of the top of the fridge and thrust it into Logan's hands. "Eat," she told him. "We've gotta get dressed and get to the hospital to see Dick."

"Yeah, yeah," Logan grumbled. "Best friend shot, barely survived, gotta see him to be sure for myself he's okay. I remember, Veronica. Go get dressed. I'll toast you a bagel. Cinnamon raisin?"

She nodded and bounced up to kiss him on the cheek. "Now, can I safely leave you two alone? Don't think I won't bring Lulu in here to referee."

Keith gave her a smile that was absolutely angelic. "I'll be good, honey."

Veronica squeezed Logan's arm on her way out of the room to make sure that he would do the same. As she left, the coffee machine buzzed, informing them that the next batch was ready. "Coffee?" Logan asked. He popped Veronica's cinnamon raisin bagel and his egg bagel into the large toaster, then poured himself a cup.

Keith raised his mug, still half full. "I think if I have any more after this, I'll start twitching uncontrollably. Wouldn't be pretty." He waited until Logan sat down across from him and took a sip from the scalding hot mug. "You hurt her, I'll kill you," he told the younger man calmly.

Logan choked just a little on his coffee, but managed to swallow it without having any of it fly out of his mouth or nose. He thought getting hot coffee to fly out of his nose had probably been Keith's plan, since it would have been particularly painful on Logan's end, with very little effort put in. But, having subverted that, Logan just nodded and said, "Understood."

* * *

Harvey and Lulu wanted to accompany Veronica, Logan, Mac, and Keith to the hospital, but they needed to get to work on repairing their house. True, not much damage had been done, all things considered, but every time Lulu saw it, she shuddered and imagined what it must have been like. Harvey agreed that the sooner they got it fixed, the better it would be for everyone, so they stayed behind, but sent their regards and well wishes to Dick. Lulu also wanted to send flowers, but Logan assured her that was unnecessary.

The car ride was tense. Keith drove, since none of the younger generation had gotten much, if any sleep. Also, he was reluctant to let Veronica out of his sight for any extended period of time. Mac rode in the passenger seat, and was alternating between being almost hyper from the amount of coffee she'd had and nearly falling asleep against the window. Logan and Veronica were in the back, discussing their immediate plans. Keith was trying his hardest to focus on the road and listen to Mac's directions, and not glare at the couple in the back seat. Veronica was leaning into Logan, stretching the seat belt to its absolute limit in order to get across the seat, and he had his arm around her waist. Possibly so the seat belt wouldn't yank her back into her seat. At least they weren't defiling the area. No amount of money would have been able to coax him into the backseat of the yellow monstrosity the couple was currently talking about.

"Okay, so I guess we'll go back to Santa Cruz first? If there's anything left in the apartment I had, I need to see if there's anything I want. I just took the essentials before. And I know you need to get the Beast," Veronica said.

"I love that car," Logan said, not for the first time. "Just be glad it can't hear you. Anyway, you're right. But I don't want to go anywhere until Dick is out of the hospital."

She ran her hand lightly up and down his arm. "Of course. You know we can stay with Harvey and Lulu as long as we want."

"We haven't outstayed our welcome yet? I figured that now that it's safe, they'd be happy to see us off back to Neptune."

"They _are _happy it's over," Veronica admitted. "But they'll be sad to see us go." She paused, then added reluctantly, "You know, they try to take their kids on vacation every summer. I kinda dropped hints that if they went to San Diego or Neptune, we'd be thrilled to spend some time with them. Is that okay?"

Logan grinned. "Yes. And if they don't go to San Diego or Neptune, and they still want to see us, we can go join them wherever for a little vacation of our own."

"Let's just try to make sure they head somewhere warm then," she said. She hadn't ever really experienced a cold winter until this trip, and she was really looking forward to a place where the temperature rarely dropped below fifty degrees.

"Are you trying to tell me you didn't enjoy snuggling together for warmth?" he teased her.

Keith coughed very loudly from the driver's seat, and Veronica scrambled back to her side of the car as he pulled into a parking space. Mac wasn't sure if it was possible to park aggressively, but it sure seemed like it at that moment.

"No calling you Bobcat, no talk of milky thighs," Logan murmured quietly. Veronica's eyes twitched to her father. His shoulders didn't tense any further, so she trusted Logan had kept his voice low enough so only she could hear, so she sent a small smile his way before getting out of the car. He tried to get out, only to discover his door had had the child-lock activated, so he had to follow out Veronica's side.

He tried to ignore the smirk on Keith's face, which was wiped away as soon as Veronica took his hand.

Mac walked a few paces ahead of them on the way in. She had to wait for them to catch up to her because the woman at the front desk wouldn't give her any information on which room Dick was in, since she wasn't a relative or on his emergency contact list. Logan had no idea how they'd gotten Dick's records from Neptune, but he was the sole contact on the list, so the nurse directed them to room 217 and told them he was in stable and improving condition. Mac set off for the elevators without even a glance to see if the other three were following her.

Keith elected to wait outside Dick's room while Mac, Logan, and Veronica went inside. Dick grinned when he saw them.

"Dude, finally! You know they don't even have cable in here?"

Logan smiled back and bumped his fist against Dick's. "Chill out, man. You can get your Skinemax fix when we get back."

"How are you?" Veronica asked. "I mean, the doctor said you'd be fine, but...you're really okay, right?"

"How am I?" Dick repeated. "Well, I'm touched by your concern, Ronnie. A little tired, not so eager to do any strenuous activity, as the doc called it, and moving too quick hurts like a bitch. But all in all, mostly I'm just bored and looking forward to heading home. But they're keeping me a couple days, no matter how much I beg."

Veronica smiled and squeezed Dick's hand. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Good. Because I'm definitely expecting a big and enthusiastic group hug when I'm up and about, and I wouldn't want you to disappoint."

"You got it."

Logan glanced at Mac, who he'd really expected to have said something before now. Quickly realizing that Mac might want privacy, he said, "Hey, I think we're gonna leave you two alone." To Mac, he added in a stern voice, "Now don't you tire him out!"

"Do I look like I'm capable of tiring _anyone _out?" she snapped. Admittedly, she looked more like she was ready to fall asleep on her feet.

"Kidding, kidding!" he said as he and Veronica left.

Mac immediately took Dick's hand and looked into his eyes. "No more life-threatening heroics, okay? At least for a while."

He smiled. "Well, I couldn't just let him shoot you, could I?"

"Oh yeah, it was such a picnic for me watching _you_ get shot instead. And those eighty two seconds when you were dead were just so thrilling. Really, we should do this every day."

"We could take it on the road," he agreed. "Be part of a circus act. Two shows a night."

"Not. Funny. I mean it. I just...I really care about you. I can't lose you too."

Neither of them needed to say who the other loss she referred to was. Dick still felt it too. So, instead of dwelling on that, he pulled her a little closer and asked, "So...right before I passed out...do I remember you kissing me?"

She smiled a little. "You remember correctly."

Very slowly and carefully, he sat up. He pulled her hand closer until he could get a grip on her hips and shift her even closer. Finally, he leaned toward her. He tried to communicate his intention to her with his eyes so she could stop him if she wanted to, but instead, she closed her eyes and met his lips softly.

When their kiss ended, Dick took one look at Mac and shifted over a few inches on the bed, giving more room on the side opposite his injury. "Climb up. You look like you could use a few minutes of shut-eye."

She sent him a grateful look and laid down in the space he'd made for her. She rested her head on his chest, being careful to avoid the bandages covering his wound, and was asleep in seconds.


End file.
